The legend of Spyro: Legend of the black dragon
by marinus18
Summary: Spyro and Cynder can finally live their lives like normal 13 year olds in a time of peace. But the war has left it's scars everywhere and a lot of work will be needed before they are healed. In this new age Spyro and Cynder will have to learn an important new thing: having fun. ON HOLD
1. old journey, new mysteries

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 1 old journey, new mysteries**

"Uuurrg" Spyro moaned, slowly opening his eyes to look around. He saw that he was laying in a valley that looked familiar to him. He could barely remember what had happened. But then it all started to come back to him: the battle with Malafor, the destruction of the world and his endeavour to save it. Now he also recognised it as the valley of Avalar. Then his mind shifted towards Cynder, he quickly looked around and found her laying unconscious a few meters away.

He slowly scrambled to his feet still exhausted from the heated battle. He crawled up to Cynder his body itching from the battle and slowly got to her. Cynder was knocked out but luckily he found no injury. He then allowed his tiredness to take hold and collapsed next to her.

After a few hours Cynder started to wake up and looked around to see what had happened. She saw that Spyro was laying right beside her his side touching hers. She smiled and pressed her lips softly against his. Spyro intently woke up, jumped back and stood in his battle position ready for an attack. Cynder giggled and Spyro looked away, very embarrassed.

After they both had woken up they started to talk about what had happened. Then they realized that they had won the war against Malafor for good now. They could hardly believe it. It was over! The pain, the sacrifice, the losses, the fighting, it was all gone now.

"I can hardly believe it is over!" Spyro exclaimed. "We have beaten Malafor and the world is saved from his evil". Spyro looked towards Cynder as if expecting an answer. "Well I guess we go back to Warfang to inform the guardians of our victory" she suggested.

"I agree" Spyro said" we have to tell them about the dark master and about the fate of Ignitus" Spyro eyes darkened a little when he made the second point.

They started to walk back towards the dragon city of Warfang, enjoying the landscape and the peace they both fought so hard for. They decided not to fly but to walk the journey home not only because they were tired but also to prolong the journey. They wanted to be able to take in the moment and to enjoy their journey for once. But the peace and beauty was quickly interrupted when they saw a dead wyvern laying next to a broken tree (the wyverns where Malafor's Arial soldiers). They continued on there journey and they quickly saw another dead Wyvern and after that another one. As they continued the bodies of dead wyverns lay everywhere on the landscape, there where hundreds of them! "wow where did all these beasts come from?" Spyro asked

"well I guess there must have been a pretty intense battle here" Cynder said.

"yeah I guess so but come take a more close look this wyvern" Spyro said

Cynder walked up to one and saw that it was still bleeding, indicating that it's heart is still pumping and it therefore it must still be alive.

When they looked at some of the other wyverns they concluded most of them were alive or had died only moments before. There mystery was solved when they were interrupted as they heard a loud shriek in the sky. "What was that!" Spyro gasped looking confused around.

"Look there!" Cynder screamed.

Spyro looked and was struck by what he saw.

Just over the treetops an adult Cynder was fighting a few dozen wyvern.

"Cynder! but how!" Spyro exclaimed looking next to him he saw Cynder still standing next to him in her teen form with the same bewildered look on her face.

The two dragons looked at the black dragoness for what seemed like an eternity

"but how can this be!"

They where struck back to reality when the black dragoness clenched and it was then that they saw she was injured and looked very tired. At that moment a dozen wyvern's longed at her and completely covered her and she fall towards the ground.

"Spyro you've got to save her!" Cynder shrieked while she shot up in the sky to chase the remaining wyvern's away. Spyro raced to save the black dragoness but he saw he was not going to make it in time. He shot an earth missile in front of him which exploded below the dragoness, stopping her fall for a second. This second was all that he needed and Spyro shot under the dragoness and she landed on top of him.

"Ough!" Spyro exclaimed as he fell from his feel as the large adult dragoness fell on him.

When Spyro crawled out from underneath the dragoness he was attacked by the wyvern that where blasted of of her when he shot his earth missile.

He opened his mouth and unleashed an storm of electric energy at the shrieking beasts, completely incinerating them

He looked up to see Cynder coming down after destroying the Wyvern's with her poison element

"Who do you think she is?" Spyro asked wondering.

"I have no idea" said Cynder "but it doesn't really matter now she needs help fast" she gasped as she looked at the number of wounds covering her body.

"You go and treat her the best you can and I will go and find some red crystals" Spyro said before rushing of into the woods.

"Well guess I better get to work" Cynder thought. While using her shadow breath to numb some of the worst wounds.

After a few minutes Spyro returned while carrying a dozen torn red crystals on his back held down by his wings.

He put them down next to the black dragoness and walked up to Cynder.

"How is she?" he asked.

"I think she will be fine after we give her some red crystals" Cynder answered.

"Alright" Spyro smashed a some of the torn crystals he brought and Cynder did the same.

The shard of the smashed crystals magically flew up to the dragoness and into her wounds, healing them.

"Urg" the black dragoness slowly started to wake up.

"How are you doing?" Spyro asked slowly moving up to her.

"Stay away from me!" the dragoness suddenly shrieked and lashed out with her tail blade with surprising speed.

The blade was aimed at his heart but Spyro jumped back and the blade cut his side instead.

Blood started to drip from the large cut on his shoulder.

The black dragoness immediately jumped back in the sky with new energy as if her life depended on it and before Cynder or Spyro had realised it yet she was already gone.

"What was that about" asked Cynder who was looking the other direction and therefore missed what had happened

"Well she woke up, lashed at me and flew off" Spyro answered.

"That is very strange"

"Spyro you are wounded!" Cynder exclaimed when she saw the large cut in his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it Cynder" Spyro assured her.

"We have been through worse and besides" , he nodded towards the pile of red crystals that was still laying just a few meters away, "We have pretty amount of healing crystals"


	2. return to the return journey

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 2 return to the return journey**

After Spyro and Cynder used the remaining red crystals to heal his wound they started to wonder who that mysterious black dragoness was.

"who do you think that was?" Cynder asked

"I have no idea" replied Spyro

"But she looked exactly like you when you where under the control of the dark master"

"I know" Cynder said with a dark tone in her voice

After they had scratched there heads for over an hour trying to figure out who the mysterious black dragoness was they dismissed it and continued on there way.

But this time they decided to fly to Warfang instead.

They really wanted to see there friends again and tell them about Ignitus. But also the incident with the black dragoness had broken there peaceful stroll.

"if we continue in at this pace we will reach Warfang tomorrow before noon" Spyro said to Cynder.

"But we will have to find a place to sleep for one night"

"by the way" Cynder said

"what?"

"what do you think we will be greeted with once we get there"

"I guess by a mass of screaming fans" Spyro signed

"I feared as much" Cynder said while turning her head to hide a smile

In the late in the afternoon it unfortunately started to rain. Spyro was quite fond of water and the rain didn't bother him much.

"I never liked the rain" Cynder complained

"well I think that you looked beautiful with the raindrops on your scales" Spyro said flirtingly

"well thank you" Cynder said sarcastically

In the evening they caught a large swine to eat and after there stomach were full they were beginning to feel very sleepy

"Do you see a place to sleep somewhere?" Cynder asked as they was flying around to see a cave or something that could serve as shelter from the rain.

"Hey look there!" Spyro said pointing his finger towards a face of a wall which appeared to have quite a few cracks in it

"where?" Cynder asked

"there!" Spyro flew towards a large crack with Cynder in tow and they flew through the crack in the wall

The two dragon's entered the cave and shook to remove the water that was still on there scales.

"looks nice" Cynder said after inspecting the cave. It had a lot of dents in it, was large enough for two teen dragons and had low ceiling

"let's sleep here then" Spyro said and Cynder nodded in agreement.

They slept side by side during the night to keep each other warm in the cold cave. Spyro was already sound asleep but Cynder was still awake.

A lot was going through her head with all that had happened

"who was that dragoness and why does she look so much like my evil form?" Cynder wondered.

"if she really took down all those wyvern then she must be very powerful"

"I always had thought that I was the only black dragon in existence" she remembered that it was the first other black dragon or any other dragon that wasn't one of the elements other then the purple dragons: Spyro and Malafor

"if she's a black dragon to maybe there are more dragons like me in the world who survived the onslaught of me"

Then it struck her. "Maybe she is the only one of my kind that I didn't kill already" she sadly thought

"how could I have destroyed my own kind! How could I !" Cynder screamed as Spyro moved in his sleep and one of his back spikes scratched the area below her tail.

Spyro jumped awake, got in his battle stand and immediately observed his surroundings.

But he quickly relaxed and looked at Cynder who had jumped away from him and backed up against the wall of the cave.

"Cynder what's wrong?" he asked surprised by her scream

"ummmm nothing I'm okay" Cynder said blushing heavily

"Sure? it didn't sound like you were okay" Spyro asked sceptically

"I was nothing! Just a nightmare!" Cynder said this time with a bit more force

"um okay then" said Spyro quite surprised by Cynder forceful response.

"let's go back to sleep then" he said looking very tired

"um yeah" Cynder said unsure

Spyro sat back down and gestured Cynder to do the same

Cynder smiled and lay down next to her beloved purple dragon

She was happy to be able to sleep near the one she loved

"his touch did actually feel nice" she thought

Then it occurred to her what she was thinking about when Spyro touched her.

"well I'm glad he disturbs when I am thinking about stuff like that"

"well I better go to sleep, it will surely be a flashy day tomorrow in Warfang" she thought

"good…. Night….. Cynder." Spyro muttered already half asleep.

"good night my love" she muttered before turning her mind at ease and finally allowed her tiredness take hold of her.


	3. back to Warfang

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 3 back to Warfang**

"How?….. How?….. How could you do this to me?"

"after everything we went trough together!"

"you didn't really believed that promise did you?"

"I can't believe you would betray me, you monster!"

"I didn't betray you."

"I never really meant it to begin with"

"I… I…. I… I don't believe that!"

"well I don't care if you believe it or not it's time to get down to business"

"NO Please I beg you Please Don't!"

"NOOOO!"

Cynder shot up from her dream panting heavily.

She looked beside her and saw Spyro twitching a little in his sleep from her sudden movement.

"Wow that was some nightmare" she thought.

The voice that she heard in her dream somehow sounded vaguely familiar to her but she could place it.

"It was probably just a bad dream because of all the trouble we have been through" she thought. "I should just forget about it"

Because of the nightmare she was ready and awake so she decided not to try a feeble attempt to get back to sleep again and go for a flight.

As she exited the cave, she felt the warmth of the rising sun against black scales

She took a deep breath of the fresh air before taking to the skies

She flew besides the face of the cliff where they slept so she couldn't get lost.

she doubted she could even get lost in her own home but she just wanted to make sure she would get back before Spyro woke up.

After having flown besides the face of the cliff for about 15 minutes she decided to fly back and wait for Spyro to wake up

As she slowly flew back to the cave something on a ledge caught her eye.

It was a large flower with large red petals, a blue stalk and green sepals

"isn't that a pruritus flower" she remembered reading about it in a book once during her short spending at the dragon temple

Suddenly a mischievous thought arose to her.

She carefully plucked the flower and gently carried it back to the cave

As gently and silently as she could she landed in the cave without waking Spyro up or more importantly, without shaking the flower she held in her left paw

She snuck up to Spyro until she was about a meter away from him

Making sure she always pointed it forward she tapped with the flower in the air towards Spyro, realising a cloud of tiny pollen in the sky which quickly dwindled down on the mighty purple dragon.

Spyro cried out and his eyes shot open as he felt an terrible itching al over his body.

Cynder fell on her back laughing as she watched him scratching every single part of his body.

After the Itching disappeared he turned to Cynder with an angry look on his face

"Cynder!" Spyro exclaimed "What did you do?"

"I pollinated you with the pollen from a pruritus flower" Cynder answered wiping the tears from her eyes

"I have read that they itched like hell and I just wanted to investigate just how much" Cynder said with a large smirk on her face

"Why you little-" Spyro smirked and longed at her and the two wrestled for a good twenty minutes

"I promise get you back for that stunt Cynder." Spyro said after they had stopped wrestling

"Oh I'm sure you will" Cynder said with a very sarcastic tone in her voice.

"Just you wait and see" he said with a fake ominous tone

After they had plucked a few berries and Cynder had caught a rabbit they settled down for a good breakfast.

When they had finished eating their meal they started to continue on their journey back towards Warfang.

After just a few hours of flying they saw the great walls of the dragon city.

"well here we are" said Cynder

"yeah are you ready?" asked Spyro

"Well you are about to find out" Cynder replied

They flew closer to the walls and made eye contact with the sentry on watch duty.

The sentry gasped at the sight of the two hero's and quickly rushed back to his command post to inform his chief

"Celsus! Celsus" the mole said panting

"what is it Renord?" the chief asked wondering why the mole was so excited

The chief was a medium sized fire dragon of around middle age. He had large black spikes down his back and a couple orange decoration across his body.

"They are here! They have returned" Renord shouted barely able to contain his excitement

"Are you talking about the great heroes!" Celsus asked also starting to get excited

"yes they are at the gates!" Renord replied

"well go and let them in" Celsus ordered

"I will inform the Guardians about their arrival"

With that Celsus shot out of the room and flew as fast as he could towards the dragon citadel to inform the Guardians.

Meanwhile. Spyro and Cynder where waiting patiently at the gates.

After a few minutes the gates opened.

Spyro and Cynder where overwhelmed by a crowd of hundreds of moles, cheetahs' and dragons.

They had to wrestle a way through the crowd while shaking so many paws that they had trouble keeping there balance

They were very relived to see the three remaining Guardians appearing and toning down the crowd.

Cynder took a deep breath, happy being able to breath again.

"I see you have returned" Terrador said with a calm but clearly happy tone

"of course we have" Spyro said while pushing away a overexcited mole with his wing.

"Maybe we should get inside it is a bit noisy hear if you ask me" Cyril suggested with his normal arrogant tone.

"Good idea" Cynder said desperate to get out of the crowd

After the guardian managed to free the two young dragons from there screaming fans they began walking towards the citadel

"Spyro! You're alive!" a voice shouted

Spyro looked and saw his glowing foster brother speeding towards him

"Sparx I'm glad to see you again"

Sparx was so excited however that he didn't stop and smacked against Spyro's nose and fell on the ground

"Sparx, you okay?" Spyro asked as he looked down on his brother

"urg yeah I'm okay" Sparx groaned as he got back up in the air

"It's good to see you again Spyro" he said when he was back up

"I did promise you that I would look after him didn't I" Cynder reminded him

"you sure did Cynder" Sparx said in a soft tone "Thank you for that"

"um no problem" Cynder said a bit surprised by his kind words

"but don't think that I won't keep an eye on you!" Sparx said sharply pointing a punishing finger towards her

"Maybe you could continue your discussion when we reach the dragon citadel" Cyril commented with a suggestive look on his face.

After the five dragons had entered the citadel that they started walking towards the main hall.

The dragon citadel was a tall building made out of brown/yellow stones just like the rest of the city it was heavily decorated with many statues and gargoyles it also had thick walls, small walls and many other obstacles to allow it to function as a shelter during a battle.

The inside of the Citadel was almost stunning, it was lushly decorated with mosaic in many shapes and had many refined architectures including milled pillars, painted ceiling and decorated windows

"wow this place is beautiful" Cynder thought; careful not to say it out loud. She was glad that they were able to defeat the golem so that it couldn't have destroyed this breath taking place

The main hall was a very simple room compared with the rest of the building.

It was a great round chamber with a beige ceiling and a yellow/orange checkered stone floor. Unlike the rest of the building it didn't have any decorations

When they had settled down Spyro and Cynder started to tell the guardians about what had happened with the dark master, about Ignitus and about the mysterious black dragoness

When they were finished everyone was silent for a few moments

"I see" Terrador said breaking the silence

"He did already tell me he wouldn't return"

"But it's still a great loss for all of us"

He didn't mention his name but it was obvious he was talking about Ignitus

"It was war Terrador" Cyril spoke

"you of al dragon's should know that war is just a synonym for murder and destruction"

"you are right about that Cyril" said Terrador

"but what impresses me the most the most is what Spyro did" Volteer said hoping to break the negative atmosphere

"With such a young body and a limited electrification, geographical and thermal energy he managed to defeat the worst enemy that has ever walked this earth"

Cyril slapped Volteer with his tail annoyed by his long sentence and difficult words

"well I managed to do it because I wasn't alone" Spyro said smiling at Cynder

"we did it together" Cynder said as if she could read Spyro's mind

"indeed you did" Terrador said

"but what's even more unbelievable is that Spyro managed to save and restore the entire planet without any instruction or lesson" Volteer said

Cyril once tried to slap Volteer but Volteer blocked it with his tail

"You didn't really believe I would allow you spank me twice now did you daddy?" Volteer said with his most childlike and innocent tone

Cyril looked away a bit embarrassed by Volteers hatchling like response but Volteer didn't seem embarrassed at all

Cynder, Sparx and Spyro suppressed a laugh and Cynder noticed that Terrador did as well

"anyway" Cyril said after regaining his posture

"what about that mysterious black dragoness?"

"I don't know who she was or why she reacted pretty fierce" Spyro said

"Or why she looks so much like my evil form?" Cynder added

"It is all very strange indeed" Terrador said

"your evil form was a creation of evil and wasn't natural."

"wait a second!" Cynder exclaimed

"are you saying that my evil form isn't my natural adult form?" Cynder asked with a look of hope on her face

"It was artificially created by Malafor but it seemed to have had a lasting impact on you so I can't be sure" Terrador anwered

Cynder didn't know what to make of it but she decided it actually didn't really matter

"but if Cynders evil form was not natural how can there be another one?" Sparx pointed out

"Does it mean Malafor could have created even more evil black dragons other then just that mysterious dragoness and Cynder?"

Cynder, Spyro and the guardians were horrified by the thought of what Sparx just brought up

"hey I'm just connecting the dots here" Sparx said nervously after seeing everyone's dreadful faces

"But if she was created to fight for him them why was she battling those wyvern" Cynder pointed out when they had recovered from the shocking thought.

Theories and arguments about the mysterious black dragoness went back and forth in the chamber until Terrador called it quits

"I see we are not going to figure out who that dragoness is so it is pointless to discuss it even more until we have more information"

"I argee with you Terrador and besides, we have also other matters to attend to" Volteer said doing his best not to use surplus words.

"indeed we have" said Cyril looking smiling this time at Volteer

"like what? didn't we win?" Sparx asked

"young Sparx, the dark master's army was an army of billions. There are likely thousands if not millions of his soldiers still alive and the army is still a very real threat" Terrador explained as if he was lecturing a child

"so you are saying that there will be more fighting?" asked Spyro catching everyone by surprise

"well yes of course there will" Terrador said a bit surprised by Spyro's ignorant question

"I just had hoped that we could live in peace and wouldn't have to fight all the time"

"young dragon war is not something that's fought and won" Terrador began now understanding the purple dragon's question

"A war starts because of the hatred different creatures feel for each other"

"And even after it ends the winner won't have peace in their lifetime" Volteer ended knowing the speech by hearth

"but the dark army has retreated underground and we can't get to them" Cyril said with an aggravated look.

"well if we can't get to them then it's no use worrying about it" Sparx said with a cheerful voice.

The dragons gave Sparx an annoyed look but Terrador stepped in

"the dragonfly has a very good point there"

"he has?" asked Cynder

"I have" asked Sparx just as surprised

"yes it makes no sense to worry about it now. Now is the time to celebrate our victory over the dark master"

With that the dragons ended their talk. Terrador weaved to the young dragons to follow him as he led them towards the room the guardians had prepared for them

"this is where you will sleep" Terrador said pointing towards a large wooden door with a low doorknob to allow the quadrupedal dragons to use it easily

After opening the door Spyro and Cynder walked into their new room

It was a medium sized room with a dark green floor and with light green walls. On the other side of the room was a pile of straw covered by a sheet that served as a bed (the guardians knew Spyro and Cynder didn't have a thing for luxury). The bed was against a large window that folded into itself and had a balcony, it was clearly meant as an aerial entrance. On one side was a large bookcase stacked with all kinds of thick books for study. On the other side was a large box for personal possessions and beside it was a storage shelf with a lot of items on it.

"what are those things? and what are they for?" Spyro asked Terrador pointing at the items on the shelf

"those are your toys to play with of course" he said suppressing a laugh

"Toys! We are not hatchlings!" Cynder exclaimed

"We will see about that in due time" Terrador said with a smirk

After Terrador left, Spyro and Cynder put the armour they collected on their journey in the box and settled down on their bed; tired from the busy day.

"why do you think they gave us those toys?" Cynder asked Spyro trying not to bring about a serious topic

"I don't know, they did treat us as adults during our talk in the main hall I also don't get it" Spyro replied just as puzzled but clearly not offended like Cynder

"well when we put you next to those guardians you are hatchling's" Sparx said

"Good point there Sparx" Spyro said.

"wow! That's the third time in one day, a new record!" Cynder said with a large smirk on her face

"hey! There have been days I have made more then three good points" Sparx shouted

"Sure? Cause I surely can't think of one" Spyro said taking adventage of Sparx very untactful response

Sparx noticed that Spyro and Cynder were very tired so he let the insult go by

Spyro and Cynder laid down and got to sleep they where soon joined by Sparx who laid down and secured himself between Spyro's back spikes

This time Cynder didn't have any nightmares she just dreamed about a wonderful new day in the dragon city with her beloved purple dragon


	4. new faces

**The Legend Of Spyro**

**Legend Of The Black Dragon**

**Chapter 4 new faces**

Cynder awoke from her sleep and got up, stretched her body and letting her joints pop. She looked down to see Spyro was also waking up to.

"Morning Spyro" Cynder said softly

"Morning Cynder" Spyro replied as he got up as well

Suddenly he heard a sound besides his hind leg and looked back to see that Sparx had fallen to the floor.

He had been sleeping on Spyro's back and when Spyro got up he had fallen between his back spikes

Sparx slowly got up and looked a bit drowsy at Spyro

"Good morning Sparx" Spyro said cheerfully

"Yeah, yeah good morning" he said a bit annoyed because of his rude awakening

After they all had woken up they started to talk about what to do

They decided that the guardians would come for them if they were needed so they decided to just read some books to pass the time

After about an hour they heard a knock on the door

"Come in" Spyro shouted

The door went open and Cyril appeared in the hallway

"We would like you to come to the main hall, we have a few things we like to say"

"We will be there in a minute" Cynder answered using her claws to close the book she was reading.

And after a few moments Spyro and Cynder walked into the main hall to see what the guardians wanted

"We have decided to pros pone your training regime by about 3 weeks" Terrador said in his normal low voice

"What!, but why?" Spyro asked wondering why the earth guardian would let the young dragons skip training while he was normally always pushing them to train harder

"We have just decided that you have worked very hard in the later years and you deserve a break" Cyril said

"Then you finally have time to have some fun" Volteer added

"But what about the remainders of the dark master's army?" Spyro asked

"Don't worry about that Spyro" Terrador answered "we can take care of that"

"But?"

"Come on Spyro you heard what he said so forget about it" Sparx said a bit annoyed

Spyro and Cynder decided to take the guardians word and enjoy the city but something quickly stopped them

"How are we going to get outside?" Cynder asked as she remembered the storm of screaming fans from the day before

"I think that I know a way" Terrador smiled and walked away leaving Spyro and Cynder wondering what he meant

After a few minutes Terrador returned with a dragoness of Spyro's and Cynder's age.

"Spyro, Cynder I would like you to meet Georga" Terrador said referring to the young earth dragoness beside him

Georga was a jade green dragoness with quite a slender built for an earth dragon. She had a pair of large spiralled yellow horns, a long tail with a knotted globe on the end, long but rather small wings and clear blue eyes.

"I'm honoured to meet you o great heroes" Georga said lowering her head in a sign of respect

"You don't have to do so formal you know" Cynder said a bit too sharply

"Did I offend you!" Georga panicked

"No, no don't worry" Spyro reassured her "we are just not used yet to being such prominent figures"

"We would however prefer if you would just call us by our names" Cynder added

"Okay. I will" said Georga still a bit awed by meeting the legendary dragon's

After Georga had calmed down she let them to a secret exit towards the back of the citadel and together they snuck out of the building without anyone spotting them

"Where are we going?" whispered Spyro wondering where Georga was leading them

"To my home" Georga anwered

"Your home!" Sparx said quite loud

"Shhhh don't draw any attention Sparx" Cynder hissed

After the three dragons had managed to sneak from house to house Georga suddenly stopped

"Why have you stopped?" Spyro asked

"This is my house"

Georga's house was no different from the hundreds of other houses that made up the dragon city so it didn't stand out

Georga opened the door using her wing and the three dragons entered the house

The house only had one floor, The living room was centred around the fireplace. It had a few pieces of furniture a bookcase and in it including a stone block with a pile of pillows on it. It had a round carpet in the middle and some inlets with a small collection of stuff, on the side where the entrances to the kitchen, bathroom and sleeping room all covered with a curtain.

"Volt! I'm home and I brought some friends with me" Georga shouted expecting Volt to be in the house.

Then a dragon came out of the sleeping room with an annoyed look on his face

Zap was a colossal electric dragon with a high chest, thick legs and a very muscular body.

"You don't have to shout you know" Volt said annoyed at being awoken

"It's a pleasure to meet you mister Volt" Cynder began hesitant a bit intimidated by the huge electric dragon

"I am Cynder and this is Spyro" Cynder introduced herself and Spyro

Zap half closed eyes immediately shot open.

"You are the famous Spyro and Cynder!" he almost shouted in a very powerful voice causing the young dragons to shrink a little.

"Umm yeah" Spyro said after recovering a bit from his scare

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you and have you in the house young heroes" Voit said in a very friendly tone which relaxed the dragons a bit

"Why don't we save the introduction for breakfast?" Georga suggested

"Good idea cause I'm starving" Sparx said and getting a swap from Cynders tail

Volt was a good cook using his electric breath to intently cook a pig and picking exactly the right fruits with it

He put is on a dish and sat it down on the ground, Georga had already settled down and gestured to Spyro and Cynder to do the same

The four dragons had a extensive breakfast and Spyro and Cynder were telling about their adventures together

"well it seems you two have been through quite a lot" Volt said once the two dragons were finished before putting a pig leg in his mouth.

"Yeah I can't believe you did all those awesome things" Georga said excitably, she had been listening to the entire story without speaking at all.

"Thanks" Cynder said a bit embarrassed

When the dragons were finished eating Georga asked something

"Have you two ever have had intimate contact yet?"

"What! Why! Well! We! um!" strain merde Spyro totally taken of guard by her question

"Georga! You can't ask something like that to a quest!" Volt scolded hitting her hard on her behind with his tail blade

"Au!" Georga cried rubbing her hindquarters with her wing

"That was not necessary Volt!" Cynder scolded a bit shocked that Volt had just hit her

"I wasn't offended I was just surprised" Spyro reassured him

"Nevertheless she shouldn't have said it" Volt said defending his action

Later on in the morning the young heroes were laying in the garden enjoying the sunshine when they where joined by Georga

"Is it normal that he hits you like that?" Cynder asked her when she had settled down beside her.

"yeah but I know he means well, He can't stand me talking about anything that's related to reproduction because he is infertile"

"I understand" Spyro said with a blush on his face

"wait a second!" Cynder exclaimed as something struck her

"If he cannot reproduce then that means he can't be your dad! can he?" She asked Georga a bit shocked

"That's right" Georga said with a sad tone

Georga's sad tone was a indication for Cynder not to pursue the topic

"Anyway" Georga got up apparently intently forgetting about what she was talking about.

"I would like to introduce you to a good friend of mine"

"Is he going alert the whole city" Sparx asked as he came out of the house

"No he knows when to keep his mouth shut" Georga looked at Sparx with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face

After they had said good by to zap they once again moved in stealth around the city

After a while they arrived at a very small, dirty and decayed building

"Go hide in that allay over there until I call you" Georga instructed to the two dragons and they obeyed and moved in the dark alley

Georga knocked on the door and after a few moments a young adult fire dragoness opened.

"Well Georga it's always a pleasure to see you" the fire dragoness said with a very warm voice

She was a very beautiful dragoness with a red body and yellow and orange decorations on her body

"Well Igüsa I was wondering if I could see Oxidus" Georga said to the dragoness

"Well he still has a lot of work to do but I think he can meet you for a moment" Igüsa answered while opening the door

"I also have two new friends I would like to introduce to him but they want to keep a low profile so can you keep quiet about it?" Georga asked the dragoness

"Of course I can sweety" Igüsa said with very friendly tone

With that Georga nodded towards the building Spyro and Cynder where hiding behind signalling them to reveal themselves

"O my!" Igüsa gasped "Are you the famous dragons that defeated Malafor?"

"Well yes that's us" Spyro answered with a unsure voice

Georga put her finger against her snout signalling to the dragoness to keep it down

"It's a nice pleasure to meet you" Igüsa said

"It's nice to meet you to" Cynder said touched by the dragoness friendly and warm personality

"Oh right you wanted to see Oxidos" Igüsa remembered

Igüsa politely let the three dragons into the small house

You could almost call the house a wreck.

It's was made of the same stones a the rest of the city but they where all very dirty and many were misplaced. The inside was equally poor but surprisingly neat. A big pile of straw was the only thing to substitute for furniture. The few stuff they did have was neatly piled up because of a lack of storage space. It was clear that this was a very poor family

Just as they entered the house they were greeted by a puny fire dragon who was only about twice the size of Sparx

He looked awed at the quests

"Iga who those?" He asked in a hatchling like voice

"Those are Spyro and Cynder, Furno" Igüna answered with a maternal voice

"Hi Spyro, Hi Cynder" The little dragon said "I'm Furno"

Cynder walked up to the little dragon and gently rubbed it on it's head "Well hi there Furno" she said as sweetly as she could

"Well we were here to introduce Oxidus to Spyro and Cynder but where is he?" Georga sat with a played annoyance

"I'm here" a voice sounded from the garden

Spyro and Cynder turned to see a fire dragon walk into the house from the back entrance

Oxidus was a rather large fire dragon who was the same age as Spyro and Cynder. He had a low and strong body, a think muscular tail and a set of very impressive gold coloured wings.

But he looked in poor shape despite his impressive body.

"How are you doing Oxidus?" Georga asked with a cheerful voice

"I'm good" he answered

"I would like to introduce you to the great heroes: Spyro and Cynder" she also quickly added "and this is Sparx"

"wow! I'm introduced to" Sparx thought out loud

"It's an honour to meet you" he said with a deep bow

"No, no that's really not necessary" Spyro said getting used to reassuring people that they didn't need to we honoured

"Were just happy to meet you to Oxidus" Cynder said

"Well I would like to stay and talk but I still have to prepare some lessons so if you would excuse me" Oxidus said as he walked away back into the garden

"Well I guess he is just very busy" Cynder said a bit surprised by the fire dragon's sudden departure

"Yeah I guess" Georga said in a disappointed tone

"Well let just leave him to his work then and let's return to the citadel" Spyro suggested

"Good idea Spyro" Georga complimented as she started walking out of the house

"Good by Igüsa" Cynder said to the sweet fire dragoness

"Good bye Cynder"

"Bye Cynder" Furno said in his high pitched hatchling voice

After the three dragons had snuck all the way back towards the citadel they got back into the main hall using the secret back entrance.

"Have you have had a good meal" Terrador answered as he saw the young dragons enter the hall

"Well yeah it was good" Spyro said a bit puzzled how Terrador knew that they had a extensive breakfast at Georga's place

Cynder then noticed that Georga was walking towards the door

"Where are you going?" Cynder asked her

"I still have a lot work to do so I can't stay"

"that's to bad" Cynder replied

"But let's say that I will work double time today so I can take a day off tomorrow" She suggested

"However in return I want you to play along and not ask any questions" she added "Deal?"

"Only if you can promise us you won't let us do anything stupid" Cynder said with a smile

"I will so does that mean it is a deal?"

"It's a deal" Spyro said before Cynder could

The two young dragons spend the remainder of the afternoon reading their books

During diner the guardians asked what the two dragons had done after Georga left and they didn't seem to pleased when Spyro told them

After Diner the two young dragons got back to their books for a few hours.

At about 9 o clock they closed their books to discuss the day

"What do you think about Georga?" Cynder asked Spyro

"Well I think she is very nice and although she had a little problem a first she seems to see us as her peers" he answered

"Good point there Spyro finally a friend instead of a fan!" Sparx said

"Hey Sparx you did a really good job today of keeping your mouth shut you know" Cynder complimented him

"thank you I'm just getting used to being on the sidelines" he said taking in the compliment

"But that doesn't mean I like it" he added with a grudge

"What do you think about Oxidus" Cynder then asked Spyro

"Well we didn't really get a chance to talk to him so I don't really know"

Cynder decided to let the topic go by but something about him seemed off, like there was something deeply bothering the fire dragon

"What do you think Georga wants us to do?" Spyro asked

"I don't know maybe I guess to the place where she goes on a day off" Cynder suggested.

"Maybe she wants you to perform the most silly act she can think off in front of her friends" Sparx said laughing hard at the idea

"I don't think so because she promised us she wouldn't" Spyro said with a sharp look towards Sparx

"And besides she doesn't appear like the kind of dragon who would take advantage of another dragon's trust" Cynder added

"That's true" Spyro said

Expecting a busy day with Georga, Spyro and Cynder talked for another 5 minutes before going to bed.

"Good night Spyro" Cynder said while giving him a small kiss on the cheek

"Good night Cynder" Spyro said while doing the same with a blush on his cheeks


	5. a day out

**The Legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 5 a day out**

"AAAH!"

"NO! Stop!"

"Please! Stop!"

"Quit your whining"

"You should feel honoured"

"I am doing this only because you are very special"

"It couldn't have been any other dragon"

"it could only have been you"

"No You, You, You can't do this to me"

"Oh no? just you wait and see"

"Please, Somebody please help me!"

"NO!"

"NO!" Cynder screamed as she jumped up from her dream panting heavily. "Another one" she thought.

"This one is just like the one I had in the cave".

"Urg, Cynder what's wrong" Spyro asked having been awoken by Cynder's cry.

"It's nothing Spyro" She reassured him.

"Just a nightmare".

"You mean like the one in the cave?" he asked remembering Cynder's panicked response.

"Um, well, um yes like the one in the cave" Cynder strain merde. He was right about the dream but it was not the dream that made her act the way she did in the cave.

"What's all the commotion about?" Sparx asked after having been awoken by Cynder shriek.

He had used some of the straw from the dragons and put in into one of their toys to make a bed for himself after the rude awaking the day before.

"Nothing just a nightmare" said Cynder.

"Well can you please be a bit less noisy some of us are trying to sleep" He said with a annoyed tone.

"We will" Spyro assured him.

"Good" Sparx said before returning to his tiny bed.

After her nightmare Cynder was fully awake and didn't sleep anymore.

"Just who are those voices I keep hearing in my dreams?" she wondered.

"The voices do sound familiar but I just can't put my paw on it".

"Well wondering about it isn't getting me anywhere".

"I wonder just what Georga has got planned for us".

"But I'm sure she won't let us do anything that's against our principles".

After a few minutes Cynder Decided to get down and see if anyone is there. Just to give her something to do other then hoping to fall back to sleep.

She was surprised to see Terrador walking through the main hall towards the exit.

"Terrador!" She shouted to him

Terrador turned and saw the young dragoness

"What are you doing so early in the morning?" She asked

"I could ask you the same thing" He replied

"I had a nightmare and I couldn't go back to sleep again so I decided to take a stroll" She said to him.

"A nightmare you say" That grabbed his attention "about what exactly?".

"Well there isn't much to say about it" she said a bit unsure.

"All I hear is a voice shouting, shrieking and cursing" she said knowing it was very vague.

"Your nightmare is a voice shouting you say" He said with a puzzled look on his face.

"does it mean anything?" Cynder asked him wondering if he knew anything about it.

"No it's just not usual that a dream is a voice" He said.

"I think what you are hearing could just be memories".

Cynder thought about what he had just said "The voice did sound a little bit like my own but something about it was different, and the situation didn't appear familiar only the voices did".

"well anyway" Terrador interrupted her thinking.

"didn't Georga promise that she would take you to some place?".

"yeah she did, but how do you know that?".

"Well I um" he stammered "I overheard her saying it".

Cynder found it very hard to believe since she was sure he was standing on the other side of the room.

"Well I have other matters to attend to so have fun on whatever Georga is planning" He said before flying off into the city.

Since it was still very early Cynder decided she could take a walk into the city.

The city was still damaged from the war but it was being repaired at a very fast rate

The wall was covered with scaffolds and some of the minor damage was already repaired.

She stopped before a water place in order to drink a few gulps.

"Hey isn't this-" She said to herself as she recognised the fountain. It was the same one were they picked water out to extinguish the flames.

"And that's the house that almost burned down" She looked at the house on the other side of the square.

Inside she heard a mole snoring loudly.

"I am glad we got to save him and so many other but-" she thought.

"but there were so many we couldn't save" she thought darkly as she saw the picture of hundreds of dead moles before her eyes.

Cynder stood there moping about there failure to save the citizens when she heard a voice behind her.

"Well Cynder what are you doing up here so early in the morning".

Cynder turned to see Igüna standing behind her.

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to go for a walk".

"I see. you have also been through a lot" She said softly.

"But through your hardships many creatures can now live in peace." She said as if she could read Cynder's mind and knew what she was thinking about.

"It was so good of you that you were able to defeat that monstrous golem before he could do any serious damage".

"Thanks Igüna".

"No thanks but I really need to get going now".

"Why? Why are you up so early?".

"To go to work but I really need to fly now so bye" Igüna said in her usual friendly tone before taking off.

Cynder made a stroll around the city being careful not to appear in any open spaces but always somewhere in the shade.

After having walked what felt like the entire length of the city she decided to get back to the citadel.

During her return journey she had to be a lot more careful not to attract any attention as there was a lot more activity.

She managed to reach the citadels back entrance without any incidents and got inside.

She was a bit surprised to see what looked like 15 young dragons in the main hall.

"There she is at last" Georga walked out with an annoyed face

"She is here!" a lot of excited voice shouted when they spotted Cynder

Cynder then had to shake 13 dragon paws before getting some space again

Some of the dragons where carrying equipment that Cynder didn't recognise

"Well now that we have all arrived I will tell the two of you what I am planning" Georga paraded in front of Spyro and Cynder enjoying their anxious faces.

"I have decided to take Cynder to the: Weaving Beach".

"Weaving Beach!" The young dragons all gasped.

"Are you sure Cynder is like that?" A dragon named Frost asked.

"She doesn't strike me like that" A dragoness named Inge added.

"how are you going to pay for it?" a dragon named Zap asked.

"I have me connection" Georga said as if she was referring to someone.

"What is Weaving Beach anyway?" Cynder asked.

"You will see Cynder" Georga said slyly.

"But you promised me you wouldn't ask any question" she reminded her.

"Okay I will go with you and see".

"Do I go along to?" Spyro asked.

"No this one is for girls only" Georga said with a played stern voice.

"You stay here and do what you are told" She sternly said to Spyro.

"Um okay, when are you two back then?" he asked.

"I can't say for sure when we will be back but I estimate that it will be around dinner time".

"It's going to take the entire day!" Cynder exclaimed.

"It will" Georga answered short.

With that Georga started walking out of the Citadel with Cynder in tow wondering where they were going.

As usual they had to sneak from building to building to avoid the crowd but they got around a lot faster then yesterday.

Georga stopped before a small grey building.

"Are we there?" Asked Cynder who was standing behind her.

"No but I want to do something else first" Georga explained

"Cynder could you remove your rings?" She then asked

"My rings?" Cynder asked wondering

"Yes your rings and then wait outside for me" she ordered

After Cynder had dislodged her jewellery and gave it to Georga she walked into the building

After a few minutes Georga appeared out of the building

"When do I get my rings back?" Cynder asked

"At the end of the day now follow me" Georga ordered.

Cynder did as she was told and followed her. The walk seemed to take them all the way to the other side of the city.

Finally Georga stopped in front of a medium sized building with a white roof.

"Here we are Cynder do you like it?" she asked her pointing towards a sign at the above the door.

"Waving Beach: world's most soothing dragonic beauty farm!" Cynder exclaimed as she read the sign aloud.

"that's right are you ready for some spectacular indulgence?" Georga rhetorically asked Cynder.

"Well I um have never done something like this before" Cynder said very surprised that Georga would take her to a beauty farm

"Well there is a first time for everything" She said "And besides I am sure your mate will love to see what comes out of this building" She slyly added

"we are not mates yet!" Cynder said in a muffled scream careful not to alert to much attention

"Don't worry I am just teasing you" Georga reassured her.

"But I am serious about this beauty farm so let's go in" She said before putting her wing behind Cynder and pulling her along.

Once inside they were greeted by a female mole sitting in a high chair in order to speak with adult dragonesses.

"Reservation for two minors on the name of Georga" Georga ordered.

"Ah yes for Georga and Cynder" the female mole replied

"Please come this way" she jumped out of the chair and walked towards a curtain on the back of the shop waving for the dragonesses to follow her

"You made reservation!" Cynder said to Georga.

"Of course I did you can't just walk into a place like this and get a treatment".

"This is the most exclusive and the most famous beauty farm in Warfang so getting in here on such a short notice was no easy task".

"Thank you Georga that you do all these wonderful things for us" Cynder thanked her warmly.

"Sure no problem" Georga said blushing a bit.

"Are you girls going to stand there all day talking or are you going to come inside" an agitated female voice shouted.

"well here we go" Cynder thought to herself as she followed Georga and entered the room.

In the meantime Spyro was wondering what the group of dragons would want with him.

"We are going to learn you how to play Tailball" Frost instructed him.

"Tailball?" Spyro asked inquisitive.

"Yes fellow us and we will explain" he walked towards the sparring room inside the citadel.

After they had arrived at the sparring room and Frost waved to a dragon who was carrying a net.

The dragon put a net down on each side and a few other helped him and brought some poles they stuck deep in the ground and then they put the between the poles. They had clearly done this many times before.

After the poles were set up Frost turned to Spyro and started explaining

"Tailball is really simple. You have two teams of dragons the one each side. The purpose is to get the ball into the goal of the other team. You are allowed to use tail and also your chest. If you hit the ball with your wings it is a free launce. You are not allowed to stand on your hind legs if you do that will also be a free launce. Are you understanding it so far?"

"Yes I think I get it" Spyro replied

"Good. Now you are allowed to fly around but it isn't smart because you have to spread your wings and that makes them easy target. Each player also appoints a goalkeeper. The goalkeeper is forced to remain no further then 15 meters from the goal. But other then the other players a goal keeper is allowed to use any part of his body. Understand?"

"Yes but what is the free launce you keep talking about?" Spyro said.

"let's say we get a free launce because you hit the ball with your wings. Then you put the ball down on the spot where you touched it with you wings and step back. Your entire team must be at least 20 meters from the ball. Then a member of my team can shoot it away. Such a perfect free shot makes a golden opportunity so it's best if you try to avoid it. Understand?"

"Yes I get the game" Spyro said having listened very carefully

"It doesn't appear that simple to me" Sparx brought in

"Trust me when you play it you will understand it very quickly" Frost replied

Back to Cynder.

"Will you girls please sit lay down here?" the mole asked pointing towards a large marble table in the middle of the room "the beautician will arrive shortly"

Georga jumped up on the table and Cynder followed suit.

"What are they going to do?" Cynder asked as they were waiting for the beautician.

"Can you please stop asking everything all the time and just wait and experience" Georga was getting a bit annoyed by Cynders persistent questions.

"Sorry guess I am just very unsure" Cynder replied.

"I think it is because of her warrior past that she always wants to know what's going on" Georga thought to herself.

After a few minutes the curtain moved and a young adult earth dragoness entered the room.

"Well I never thought I would get a heroine to treat in my shop" She said cheerful.

"Well I never thought I would end up in a place like this" Cynder replied a bit more relaxed by the cheerful earth dragoness.

"My name is Caline and it's an honour to meet you" The earth dragoness bowed in respect to Cynder

"Hey I'm here to you know!" Georga said getting angry about being ignored

"of course sweetheart now let's start with the treatment"

"Would you please stand up so I can see what to do?" The dragoness asked while looking at Cynder

Cynder got to her feet in order to let Caline inspect her while Georga continued watching

"Hmmm, Oh my, I see, hmm," The dragoness muttered as she inspected Cynder

She then lifted Cynder's tail to look at it and then she moved Cynder's wings and then her feet to inspect them.

Cynder hated all this plucking of her body but stood perfectly still none the less.

"This isn't going to be easy" The dragoness said after she was finished.

"You look like you have seen quite some action for such a young dragoness".

"I think I could fill the entire day talking about it" Cynder said cynical.

"Well you will have the opportunity because it looks like it's going to take some time" the Dragoness said.

"Is it really that bad!" Cynder asked surprised quickly inspecting her body in search of injuries or imperfections but she found none.

"For this place it is now let's move on" Caline answered while walking towards Georga.

She was finished with Georga a lot faster then with Cynder.

"She could do with a much shorted one but I will give you both the full treatment" Caline concluded

"The first thing will be to open up you scales a bit. Would please follow me?" she walked towards the curtain that let out of the room with Cynder and Georga close behind.

After passing through the curtain Caline let the two dragonesses down a short hallway before stopping before a big wooden door.

"You girls go inside" She ordered while opening the door with her wing "After about 30 minutes I will come and get you".

Cynder and Georga entered the chamber.

"It was completely made out of wood and had a few metal bowls with hot coals on the sides, there were also a couple of low elevations going into a staircase like fashion upwards to serve a benches for different sizes of dragonesses. There was a strong sense of perfume in the room and a high humidity rate.

But the thing that stood out most was the searing heat.

"Man it's hotter then Boyzitbig in here" Cynder moaned.

"I guess it must be to open up our scales then" Georga suggested as the beautician just said.

"But what is Boyzitbig?" She then asked hoping to start a conversation.

"Boyzitbig is a large volcano on the island of-" Cynder began and the two girls spent the 30 minutes talking about all the different places Cynder has been.

Then they heard the door creak and looked to see Caline enter shielding her eyes from the magical energy in the room (Dragons don't sweat. Instead there bodies shift their scales create pores and then they exclude magical energy from inside their bodies. When that energy goes through the pores outside it cools the body down. However this is mostly accompanied by a bad smell) Because of all the steam and all the perfumes in the room the dragonesses however did not stink.

"would you please follow me?" Caline asked.

Cynder and Georga followed the earth dragoness and quickly got to another room.

This room had a large tub filled with a strange liquid.

"Would you please jump in".

Trusting the dragoness Cynder and Georga jumped into the tub.

"AAAH" Cynder and Georga screamed.

The substance felt like liquid ice on their hot scales.

"you can come out now" Caline said and Cynder and Georga quickly exited the cold tub.

"What is this stuff?" Georga asked as she saw it had stuck everywhere on her body like clue.

"It's Puhdistus Acid" Caline answered.

"It has great purifying properties for dragons".

"It will be brushed of later but let's move on" she walked towards the door with Cynder and Georga behind walking a bit awkward with the sticky acid on them.

Meanwhile Spyro was busy with his tailball game.

"Pass it here!" He shouted as he stood clear ready to make a shot at the goal.

The dragon passed the ball but just as Spyro was about to smack it with his tail Frost jumped in and bumped the ball away with is chest.

"Hey!" Spyro shouted

"Sorry buddy" Frost said with a mischievous smirk

Spyro then took to the skies to catch the ball and try again.

"Up here!" He shouted as one of his players got the ball in her possession.

"The dragoness ignored him and shot the ball with her tail towards the goal. The goalkeeper blocked the ball with his right wing but the ball bounced off and another member of Spyro team shot it in with his horns.

There was a short cheer before the game continued

Frost shot the ball towards Spyro's goal but Spyro intercepted the ball and shot it towards a another member of his team

That player shot it back again at Spyro and Spyro spun around and shot the ball towards the opposite goal with tremendous force.

The goalkeeper was however no coward and he grooved his claws in the ground and swung his tail with all his strength and managed to shoot the ball right back all over the field and right into Spyro's goal.

"Sorry about that" said the goalkeeper named Zap.

"It just went so fast I missed it".

"No problem we will get them back" Spyro answered getting even more pumped up.

Spyro had never felt so pumped up about something before and he was enjoying every second of it.

On the other side of town Cynder and Georga were still following Caline with the sticky acid on there bodies.

"The next step will be to clean your scales from any sort of pollution and in Cynder's case also to scrub away some scratches" Caline explained

Cynder and Georga then again entered another room and this one was again hot.

It had three entrances each one covered by a curtain. On the sides were a lot of drawers for all kinds of items.

"Could stand over there please?" Caline asked

The dragonesses obeyed and stood in the middle of the room.

"We have costumers" Caline shouted

Then a door opened and 4 moles entered the room

"I want a scrubbing for both of them and then followed by a complete wash over" Caline ordered to the moles

"For the black one I also want a hard scrub" She added and waved for the moles to get to work.

The moles then quickly got the drawers and pulled out all kinds of strange papers and bottles.

They first began by scrubbing of the sticky acid with sandpaper.

They began to salve Georga's body with a brown paste and Cynders body with a black paste.

Cynder had to admit it did feel pretty relaxing the way the moles were gently salving every part of her body.

She looked over to Georga and saw she was relaxed as well and was already half brown.

When the moles were finished only Cynders head was still dry.

The moles then picked other sandpaper and began to scrub of the brown and black paste they just applied.

When they were finished Cynders scales felt like reborn to her but the moles weren't finished just yet.

Georga was already finished so she just watched as the moles began the whole process all over again but this time they used a The same brown paste they used on her.

"Now it is time for the faces" Caline ordered to the moles

"Would you please lay down and close your eyes now" She ordered the Cynder and Georga

The two dragonesses obeyed and awaited what was to come

Cynder felt the moles applying the same paste they used on her body on her face and later that is was scrubbed of again. They then very gently applied the paste around her eyes, mouth and nostrils. Then they used tiny sandpapers to scrub it away.

"Now for the wings" Caline ordered.

This time the moles picked a yet different paste.

This paste felt much softer then the brown or the black one.

After the moles had completely salved the wings they didn't scrub it off like they normally did.

Instead they picked some sort of spout like balloon and pressed it in.

Out of the balloon came a short stream of water they sprayed on the wings

Cynder recoiled a little from the cold water but quickly returned to her pose.

After the moles had sprayed off all the paste from the wings they began walking towards a curtain and Caline waved for Cynder and Georga to follow them.

The moles led the dragonesses to a tiled room with a lot of bottles standing around.

They walked away leaving the two dragonesses wondering

"What's do you think is going to happen now?" Cynder asked Georga

"Cynder you really need to loosen up and let things unfold sometimes you know" Georga answered

Cynder thought about what Georga had just said when a she was surprised by a stream of warm water coming down on top of them.

The moles then returned covered in rubber clothing to keep the water out.

They began to wash the dragonesses using the contents of the different bottles that stood inside the room.

Despite her dislike for water Cynder really began to relax like she had never done before.

Feeling the warm water flow over her body and feeling the skilful hands of the moles washing her body made her mind drift away.

Then the moles cut off the water to allow them to soap in the dragonesses.

After Cynder and Georga were completely covered in bubbles the moles released the water again to wash of all the foam.

Cynder and Georga started to shake the water off but they were stopped by one of the moles.

"You dragonesses don't have to do that" He said to them and Cynder then noticed two of the moles were carrying towels.

The moles then vigorously rubbed the dragonesses until they were completely dry.

Cynder wanted to check herself but Caline already got into the room and ordered them to follow her back into the main treatment room

Back at the citadel Spyro was enjoying himself with the tailball match.

Since it was outside the air didn't become magical but the dragons still smelled awful.

But that didn't bother Spyro he was much to absorbed in his tailballing.

He shoot towards the ball just as it was about to land on the ground and smacked it away towards one of his team members.

Because of his warrior past Spyro was still full of energy but many of the other dragons were already worn out.

Because they were tired they moved more slowly and Spyro's teammate didn't respond fast enough and the ball hit him full in the face.

"Zap!" Spyro shouted as he saw that he hit his teammate.

Spyro shot up to Zap while the other dragons also started to run towards him.

"Zap? Are you okay?" Spyro asked.

"Urg, yeah I'm fine but that was a hard one" Zap said as he got back up to his feet.

"I'm sorry Zap" Spyro apologised.

"It was more my failure then your fault Spyro so don't worry about it" Zap reassured him.

"Well I'm beat. I say we are calling it quits okay gays?" Frost asked as he approached Spyro.

"Yeah I'm pretty tired to" Inge said while panting heavily.

"Yeah me to" Zap said after getting to his feet.

"Okay gays let's call it quits" Spyro said despite that he still wanted to continuo.

Back inside the Weaving Beach Cynder and Georga were standing in the middle of the treatment room.

"Next up are the horns and the claws" Caline explained to the young dragonesses

"Wonder how that will be" Cynder whispered girlishly to Georga

"She is finally relaxing and just enjoying herself" Georga thought to herself

The moles then brought in two small crotches and knowing what was expected Cynder and Georga put their paws on the them.

The claw buffing was a pretty boring thing compared to the other soothing treatments but it didn't take as long.

After both of their 12 claws were buffed they were also sharpened with a file. This took a lot longer then the buffing and also wasn't really much fun.

Cynder thought about Spyro and wondered how he was doing with those other dragons.

"What do you think Spyro is doing right now?" She asked Georga.

"If you want to know you should ask him yourself" Georga replied and Cynder got her point.

After the moles were finished with the claws they shifted their attention to the horns.

They walked back towards the drawers and once again pulled out some bottles and paper.

"Now stand perfectly still they need to do this with precision" Caline ordered

The two dragonesses stood frozen while the moles applied the fluid from the bottle on the paper and wrapped it around the dragonesses horns and back spikes.

They put 4 bandages on Georga's horns and they put 6 on Cynder's and then they put 3 more on the spikes on the back of Cynder's head.

"Those will have to stay for a hour before they are removed" Caline said to them

"Now it's time for a relaxing massage" She said cheerfully

The moles knew what to do and rushed the two Crotches out of the room and put back a wide wooden plate.

Cynder and Georga lay down on the wooden plate getting to know how thinks worked here.

The moles then exited the room and a new group of them came in.

When they were standing side by side with the dragonesses laying on the wooden tables they began to do their job.

"my gosh this feels so great" Cynder thought as her body completely relaxed, the feeling of the skilled hands pressing, squeezing and hitting her at just the right spots felt so good.

It felt like all the muscles in her body could finally all relax and it felt great.

"Well this is something different from what I used to do" She thought to herself remembering the time when she and Spyro had to fight against the dark masters forces.

But the dark thoughts were quickly cast aside by the mesmerising feeling of the message.

Her only wish was that she could share this wonderful feeling with her purple dragon

Cynder found herself drifting further and further away into the magical feeling of her body.

"Cynder don't fall asleep!" Georga shouted to her.

"Huh what?" Cynder had drifted so deep it appeared that she had dowsed off.

Then she noticed the moles had stopped with the massage.

"Now it is time to remove the bandages" Caline ordered

"An hour has passed already!" Cynder gasped

"yeah it passes quickly when you are asleep" Caline said warmly to her

The moles exited the room and the original team returned

After a few minutes the new team of moles had removed all the bandages from the dragonesses horns and spikes.

"Now it is time to brush the teeth" Caline ordered

"Brush the teeth!" Cynder exclaimed not expecting it at all.

Back again at the citadel Spyro was standing before the exhausted group of dragons

"Now what do we do?" he asked Frost

"Hey Spyro is it true that the 'terror of the skies' and your mate are one and the same?" asked Zap

"She is not my mate!" Spyro said angrily "She is just a very close friend!"

"But is the 'terror of the skies' and your friend Cynder the same dragon?" Zap repeated his question annoyed that he didn't answer the question.

"Yes they are indeed the same person" Spyro said feeling his mood drop as he thought about the evil that Cynder had committed under control of the dark master.

"Zap you must not ask such a thing!" Inge scolded

"What? Why can't I ask that?" Zap said clueless

"Because it is a painful memory for Spyro can't you see that!" Frost pointed out

"But it did happen didn't it" Zap continued

"So what does it matter whatever I bring it up or not?"

Everyone was quiet after that. Inge wanted to be angry at zap yet she couldn't be because he made a excellent point there.

"You stop playing for one second and already the mood is down the drain!" Sparx shouted in order to make himself audible for the entire crowd

"He right you know" Frost said also wanting to preserve a positive atmosphere

"So Spyro do you have anything to chew on in this place?" He then asked the purple dragon

"We have enough for all of you!" Spyro shouted also getting pretty hungry.

With that the dragons rushed of towards the kitchen to catch some snacks.

Now back again to the girls

"Most customers hate this part but it is essential" Caline told the young dragonesses.

"No pain, no game" Cynder chirped totally happy

"Good point I will keep that one in mind when I have another refusing dragoness" Caline cheerfully said

One of the moles picked up a bowl with a white paste inside.

Two other moles then picked up small brush and scraped the content of the bowl on the brush.

Then they walked to the dragonesses and Cynder and Georga lowered their heads and opened their jaw's to allow the moles to clean their teeth and their fangs.

Cynder could understand why most customers didn't like it. It felt dirty to have the sticky paste in your mouth and have someone else brushing inside of you.

meanwhile the fourth mole was busy placing down four buckets: two empty ones and two filled with water

"When they are finished you must spit out the toothpaste in the empty bucked" Caline ordered

After the moles were finished with the deepest parts of the dragonesses jaws they nudged to them.

Cynder and Georga spit out the toothpaste inside of the empty bucked.

Georga immediately drunk the other bucked empty desperate to get the taste out of her mouth.

Cynder didn't drink she just put her snout into the bucked and shook to remove the toothpaste around her muzzle.

"Why aren't you drinking?" Georga asked Cynder seeing that her bucket was full after Cynder retreated her head.

"I like the taste of this stuff" Cynder smiled at the bewildered face of Georga

After that the moles used towels to brush of the water and remaining toothpaste from the dragonesses lips.

"Well now we are already at the last step" Caline said

"But it is the longest step of them all"

"What is it?" Cynder asked getting excited from her vagueness

"Polishing" Caline said in one word

Caline didn't give any orders but Cynder and Georga ducked in a little and raised their heads back to let the moles reach them more easily

Back at the citadel Spyro and his gang were busy looting the kitchen

"This stuff is awesome" Frost said to Spyro while he picked up a leg and put it into his mouth.

"You gays get to eat this stuff every day!" Inge said jealously

"Yeah be are pretty lucky" Spyro answered with a smirk.

"Psst hey Spyro" Spyro heard the voice of Sparx whispering behind him

As Spyro turned Sparx threw a small cake straight in his face.

"Why you little mosquito" He said with a played anger before launching at the tiny dragonfly.

But Sparx easily dodged Spyro attack.

"To slow there fatso" Sparx mocked

"Ow yeah how about this then" Spyro picked up a small piece of fruit and threw it at his brother.

Sparx once again dodged Spyro's attack but the fruit continued on it's path and hit Inge in the face before splattering and completely covering her with mush"

The fruit on Inge started to sis as it was cooked from the heath.

She picked up another cake and threw it at Spyro

Spyro quickly ducked to avoid being hit again but this time the cake hit Ampere who stood behind him.

The situation quickly turned into an all out food fight. With cake, fruit, vegetables and meat flying through the air in all directions

Spyro was so absorbed in the war that he did not notice the door of the kitchen sliding open and threw a large melon towards Frost with his wings

Frost sidestepped and the melon hit Terrador straight in the face.

"Oh ow" Sparx said silently as he watched the earth guardian face covered in melon mush

Back again to the beauty farm.

"I want a level 6 polishing on the green one and a level 9 polishing on the black one" Caline ordered to the moles.

"What are levels of polishing?" Cynder asked as the moles were walking towards the drawers.

"It's the hardness of the polishing" Caline answered

"The hardness of the polish must be the same as the hardness of the scales. If it is to soft it won't do anything but if it is too hard it could cause injury" Caline continued to explained.

"Why are my scales harder then Georga's?" Cynder then asked the beautician.

"Dragon scales get harder as a dragon fights more and judging from your appearance when you entered I guess you have fought more then she has" Caline explained to Cynder.

"Yeah I guess so" Cynder said

The moles walking up to the dragonesses standing in the middle and began gently scrubbing them.

"This feels good" Cynder thought to herself. The entire beauty farm was a wonderful experience for her.

Just like with the massage Cynder found herself drifting but this time she did stay awake.

The moles gently scrubbed the dragonesses hard scales until they were shining like glass.

Then they moved on to the claws and the horns.

Cynder's horns needed a whole lot more work then Georga's so when the moles were finished Georga just watched them work on Cynder.

Their claws were polished with very fine files and were then cleaned with a cloth.

The wings were next.

This time the moles picked paper that seemed to have no scrubbing agent on it at all.

The gently rubbed it against the leather like wing membranes of the dragonesses.

The wings took a very long time because the moles had to be very gentle. With Cynder they also polished her wingtips with same scrubbing paper they used on the horns.

Sometimes it was difficult for Cynder and Georga to keep their wings fixed but they did their best to let the moles do their job.

The final thing was the tail appendix.

They put more work in it on Cynder then they did with Georga because of Cynder's metal like blade.

After the moles were finished polishing the dragonesses they moved out of the room.

"Would you also like to be painted?" Caline asked to them

"It is optional but it looks very nice"

"Yeah I think I want that" Cynder said before Georga could reply

"It's okay with me to" Georga said

"Okay then let's get started" Caline said while walking up to one of the many drawers in the room and pulling out a brush and a diversity of different bottles

Unlike the other treatments Caline did the painting herself.

She painted Cynder with white lines across her body. She also coloured the markings with white. She then applied red paint on Cynder's back and she then also applied black paint between the folds of Cynders belly. She finished by applying green horizontal strokes and silver vertical strokes of paint on Cynder's face.

"Caline is very skilled" Cynder thought to herself as she felt the brush moving perfectly fluid and without any hitches.

When she was finished with Cynder, Caline moved up to Georga.

She painted Georga with brown lines starting from her tail all the way up to her mid section. She applied yellow paint from the horns back towards the mid section and then downwards across the front legs. Finally she applied some blue paint on Georga's face in particular patterns.

"That will be it" Caline said as she put the brush and the bottles back.

She walked out and weaved for the dragonesses to follow her.

"Now take a look at yourself" Caline said as she let the young dragonesses to a large mirror.

"Wow that's really me" Cynder thought out loud.

She had never seen herself like this before. She had always thought of herself a hard fighter and a defender of justice but seeing herself like this opened up new perspectives of herself.

"It's you beauty" Georga said teasingly as she was amused by Cynder's awed face.

After they were back inside the entrance hall Caline asked "Did you girls enjoy the treatment?"

"We surely enjoyed it Caline" Cynder and Georga said after each other

"But wait don't we have to pay?" Cynder asked

"I made reservation's, they have already received their money" Georga explained to her.

"Okay now let's get back to the citadel then" Cynder concluded

"No we still have to get back your jewellery" Georga reminded her

"Ow yeah I almost forgot" Cynder said as noticed the absence of her rings

"Bye Caline" Cynder and Georga said as they walked out the door

"Bye" Caline replied

After the two dragonesses exited the beauty farm they saw it was already late in the afternoon.

"I wanted to go shopping to but it looks like we can't" Georga said a bit down.

"It's okay Georga" Cynder reassured her "I have gotten enough already to make this a wonderful day".

"Okay then we will go and get your rings back and then we will be off to see what Spyro is up to" Georga replied

They started walking towards the shop were Georga had left Cynder's rings.

Since it was on the other side of the city it took them over an hour to get there.

After a long walk they finally reached the gray building

"Fine smith and polishing service Therofous" Cynder read in the sign above the door

"You sent my jewellery to a polisher to get them cleaned up" Cynder said to Georga

"Of course silly" Georga said as if Cynder had asked something ignorant

"When you are cleaned up your rings should be cleaned up to"

They walked into the shop and were greeted bye a big fire dragon

"I come here to retrieve the iron rings I brought this morning" Georga said to the fire dragon

"Ah yes 'Cynder's rings'" he said mockingly not believing them to be of the famous Cynder

"Yes my rings" Cynder said with a overly superficial voice

"Oh my excuses" the fire dragon said very surprised to see Cynder herself into his shop

With that the fire dragon rushed and disappeared behind a curtain before returning a few minutes later with Cynder's jewellery on his wings

It was sparkling and shining as new and all the reliefs were once again clearly visible.

After Cynder had put the rings back on the two dragonesses walked out of the shop and towards the citadel.

When they reached the back entrance of the citadel they spotted Sparx just as he rushed back inside to get Spyro.

"Cynder you are back!" Spyro said as he rushed out of the citadel

He quickly stopped and his jaw fell open as he spotted the two dragonesses

Cynder looked sparkling in the setting sun.

Her previously dull scales were a pure black and seemed to absorb all the light. Her silver horns were sparkling and seemed like crystals.

Also her wings were beautiful to look at as were her claws.

Her tail blade looked like it could dub as a mirror and all the paint that was on her really amplified her beauty perfectly.

Georga was just as pretty but Spyro had of course more eye for Cynder.

"Cy, Cy, Cy, Cynder you look absolutely gorgeous" Spyro strain merde.

"Well thank you Spyro" Cynder said girlishly.

"But you look like you may need a treatment" Georga added as she inspected him

He was completely covered with mush and other things she didn't even want to know and he also smelled terrible.

"Wow Spyro what have you done this afternoon" Cynder said a bit shocked by his state.

"Well we played a tailball game for about like 2 hours and afterwards we um" Spyro stopped in his sentence a bit to embarrassed to continuo

"Had a food fight in the kitchen" Sparx finished with a large smirk on his face

"A food fight?" Cynder asked shocked as if Spyro was a child

"Well it shows" Georga said looking at the mush that covered the purple dragon

"So does that mean the kitchen is like a warzone" Cynder asked Spyro

"No after Terrador got a melon in his face they cleaned the entire kitchen in like one minute" Sparx said before Spyro could answer.

"The other dragons have already left for home" Spyro then said to Cynder

After the girls had forced Spyro into the bad tub and washed him like a hatchling they got to Spyro's and Cynder's room to discuss the day.

"I never knew you like that Spyro" Cynder said referring to his food fight.

"Well I never knew you like that either Cynder" He replied.

"It seems we both experienced a new part of ourselves" Cynder said to him.

"Yeah it appears so" Spyro said.

"And who do you think is to blame" Sparx said referring.

"It's you Georga thank you" Cynder turned and looked at her.

"It was my pleasure and I had a really nice day to" Georga replied.

"What exactly did you two girls do anyway?" Spyro asked Cynder.

"We went to a beauty farm" She replied.

"A beauty farm! How did you come to that idea?" He then asked Georga.

"Well I wanted Cynder to relax and it was the first thing to come to my mind" Georga asked like she was hiding something.

"I see, and what created the idea of inviting every dragon you could think of to play tailball with me?" He then asked the dragoness.

"I needed something to keep you busy, so what's the first thing to keep a boy busy?" She turned to Cynder as if asking a rhetorical question.

"I don't know" Cynder said puzzled.

"Let him play a game" Georga said a bit annoyed.

"Hey Georga would you like to sleep over tonight?" Spyro asked.

"What! I um" Georga said unsure, not expecting the question at all.

"That's a good idea Spyro" Cynder supported him.

"Okay I will sleep over" Georga sighed with a smile.

"I will go and tell Volt about it right away. I'm sure he won't object".

"Okay now I say we get some food because I am starving" Cynder said as she got up.

"You stay here Spyro I don't want a food fight again" Cynder ordered.

"But it was Sparx who started it" Spyro protested.

"Okay then he stays here to" Cynder concluded before walking out of the room with Georga close behind.

"You really allow yourself to get bossed around by a dragoness!" Sparx shouted to Spyro

"I can't believe it".

"Well believe it or not it just happened so I guess we just have to sit here and wait for them to return".

After about an hour the two dragonesses entered the room again.

"Spyro what are you doing?" Cynder asked.

"I um" Spyro strain merde.

"He was playing around with the toys that the guardians gave us" Sparx said.

Spyro used his wing to get Sparx close to his face "Can't you keep your mouth shut!" He said angry.

"Spyro" Cynder couldn't believe it. First a food fight in the kitchen and then he was playing around with hatchling toys, she just couldn't believe it, she had never seen Spyro act like this before.

"What's wrong here?" Georga asked as she came into the room after Cynder.

"Cynder caught Spyro playing around with toys" Sparx told her.

"Sparx!" Cynder and Spyro said sharply.

"And what's wrong with that?" Georga asked.

"What's wrong with that!" Cynder repeated.

"Yeah what's wrong with that" Georga said again.

"Is it normal for a dragon of our age to play with toys?" Cynder rhetorically asked Georga.

"Yes it is perfectly normal" Georga replied.

"Are you saying you are still playing with toys too" Cynder exclaimed.

"of course I do" Georga said.

"I'm not that old you know" she added.

"Well that's true but-" Cynder began but didn't finish.

"But nothing! you gays aren't adults and you also shouldn't image yourself as such!".

"You are just young dragons who aren't even fertile yet".

"But we aren't hatchling anymore" Cynder protested

"That's true but what does that matter?" Georga shot back.

"You are still kids just like me and you could also try to act as such!" she said angry.

"I would make things a whole lot more easier for everyone!".

"She is right Cynder" Spyro said as he got up.

"We aren't adults yet we still have a whole teenage life ahead of us".

"So let's make it a good one".

"Yes let's" Cynder replied.

"Okay now that is settled could I get something like a bed in here" Georga said cutting the subject.

"I will bring you to the guardians" Sparx volunteered.

With that Georga left together with Sparx to go and ask for a bed leaving Spyro and Cynder alone in the room.

"What do you think about what Georga just said" Spyro asked Cynder

"I think she made an excellent point there" Cynder said now very sure

"We have been imagining ourselves as full grown adults while we most certainly aren't".

"We are still young and we should also enjoy it".

Cynder then hugged Spyro with her wings

"I mean like this" And then Cynder gave Spyro a kiss on his snout

"Okay Cynder we will" Before he kissed her back still captivated by her beauty

They quickly released each other in case Georga got back.

"Hey Cynder why do you think Terrador didn't punish us when I hit him with that melon?" Spyro asked Cynder after they had settled down again.

"I don't know it doesn't sound like him" Cynder remembered the always strict Terrador from her time in the temple

"He almost seemed happy about it but I do not know why" Spyro said.

"Well I don't think we will figure it out so let's just leave it be" Cynder then said.

"Oef somebody can give me a hand?" Spyro and Cynder turned to see Georga in the hallway carrying a mattress on her back.

After Spyro and Cynder had moved the toys out of the way and put down the mattress they walked up to their own bed.

"Good night you two" Georga said before closing her eyes.

"Good night Georga" Cynder and Spyro said in unison.

"Good night everyone" Sparx said as he floated down to his own small bed.

With that Cynder closed her eyes being more happy then she has ever been before.


	6. a child's life

The legend of Spyro

Legend of the black dragon

Chapter 6 a child's life

"Hahaha You can't catch me"

"Ow no? just wait"

"I've always been the faster one"

"Not today sweetie"

"Tag your it"

"hey where did you come from?"

"From underneath you silly"

"now your it"

"catch me if you can"

"Come here you!"

"Hahaha"

The rising sun shone in Cynder's eyes as she started to wake up.

"Again" She thought.

"It's another one of those dreams."

"But this is the first time it's about something happy instead of something awful."

"I don't know who those voices were but they were clearly playing tag and enjoying themselves."

"I have never played tag with Spyro or anyone else for that matter so the dreams couldn't be memories."

"But if they aren't memories how can it be that I remember them after I wake up that doesn't make sense."

"Could they be some kind of advanced warning for something?"

"I just hope we don't have to fight Malafor or anyone else again and that we could just live in peace here"

"The dreams just don't add up" Cynder thought frustrated.

Cynder spent another 10 minutes trying to figure out the dreams before she quitted because it gave her a headache.

"Morning Cynder" Cynder turned her head to see that Georga was waking up

"Morning Georga" She replied

Georga got up and stretched her body letting her joints pop.

Seeing Georga stretching her body like that really showed Cynder how thin and long Georga really was.

She looked to herself and saw that her tail, body and legs were far more muscular.

"Looks like all the fighting left me with a pretty strong body" She thought satisfied.

Now Spyro was waking up.

"Morning everyone" he said as he got up.

"Morning Spyro" Cynder said to him.

"Yeah Yeah good morning everyone to everyone" Sparx said a bit annoyed.

After the three dragons had awoken they walked down to get some breakfast.

"I can't stay for long" Georga said while they were walking

"I need to be at my job before noon."

"Aw we hoped to talk a bit" Cynder said a bit disappointed.

"Well I said before noon so that leaves plenty of time left" Georga pointed out.

"That's true" Spyro brought in.

After the dragons got to the kitchen they spotted Terrador eating his breakfast together with Cyril.

"Ah if it isn't Spyro" Terrador said as he spotted the trio.

"I hope you can use food for it's intended purpose this time!" He said with a very paternal voice.

"What do you mean by that Terrador?" Cyril asked tilting his head a little.

"He means that he got hit by a mel-" Spyro grabbed Sparx with his paw to shut him.

"You keep that big mouth of yours shut!" he snarled.

"And why would I do that?" Sparx asked mockingly.

"I really don't think you want to find out" Spyro said ominously purposely letting a bit of flame escape from his mouth.

Cynder suppressed a grin as that shutting up Sparx was mostly her job.

"Now, now just calm down you I didn't mean anything by it" Terrador said reassuring.

After they got the matter sorted out and still left Cyril in the dark Spyro, Cynder and Georga walked up and placed their orders.

Spyro ordered a sheep, Cynder a boar and Georga ordered 8 Taviboah's.

"Your not eating any meat?" Cynder asked as they waited for the moles to finish.

"Nah I want something sweet this time" Georga said.

"You also didn't eat any meat at your home, Sure your not vegetarian?" Sparx asked sceptically.

Georga retreated her lips and showed her fangs "Very sure" She said while looking with a lustful look towards the little dragonfly.

"Okay then" Sparx gulped causing both Spyro and Cynder to chuckle.

After a few minutes they got their food.

Spyro had ate his sheep in a few minutes he wished he had ordered more because he was still feeling hungry.

He looked right and saw that Cynder was enjoying her boar and he could live with himself to do it to her.

But then he looked over to Georga who was sitting left to him and she seemed to be plunged in thought as he ate her fruits.

He slowly moved to her dish to try and pick one of her Taviboah's.

Georga smirked but did not move.

When Spyro was about to grab one she slammed the spiked globe on her tail into his tail.

Spyro squalled and grabbed his tail looking at the large red spot.

"You really didn't think I would let me steal my food now did you?" She asked him.

"Spyro!" Spyro looked and saw that Cynder was looking at him with a punitive look.

"If you wanted some fruit all you had to do was ask" Georga said in a sweet tone as she picked one of her Taviboah's and put it on Spyro's dish.

"Thank you Georga" Spyro said to her without looking back at Cynder.

Spyro quickly ate the Taviboah, it was very sweet and he liked it.

He still wasn't full but didn't ask for more food from Georga or Cynder.

After the girls were finished Georga stood up "I have to go now otherwise I will be late" she said.

"Wait! Why don't you let them join you Georga?" Terrador asked before Georga could leave the room.

"Join me!" She stammered "At my job you mean?"

"Yes why not?" Cynder asked her.

"But you don't even know what my job is" Georga protested.

"Does that matter?" Terrador asked "They are very kind"

"What did he mean by that?" Cynder wondered.

"Fine they can come" Georga said defeated "But you better not be a burden you hear me!"

"We won't Georga" Spyro assured her.

After the dragons got out of the citadel they walked towards Georga workplace.

The citizens of Warfang were starting to settle down so they no longer needed to sneak around although they still caught a lot of eyes.

"Well that's all part of being a hero" Spyro thought as almost everyone they encounter stopped to look at them.

"Well here we are" Georga stopped before a small unremarkable building.

"Timpetampe dragon day-care" Spyro chuckled a little as he read the name on the sign.

Cynder gave him a poke with her wing "That Georga works at a day-care isn't funny" she said sharply.

"No I just think that name is silly" He reassured her still with a smirk on his face.

"I know the name is kind of silly" Georga had apparently heard the dragons whispering.

"I never imagined you to work at a day-care!" Sparx said.

"Well I do, now follow me I think the little ones are anxious to see you".

The three dragons entered the dragon daycare.

The hallway was a large white room with little decorations. There were two curtains who let to other rooms.

"Ah Georga there you are" a voice said.

"I brought some friends who insisted that they would join me" Georga said to the dragoness who appeared from behind the curtain.

"Are those?" the dragoness gasped as she saw the black and purple dragons behind Georga.

"Yep it's us Spyro and Cynder" Cynder said proudly getting used that everyone was awed when they first meet them.

"Well it's an honour to meet you" The dragoness bowed in respect just like many had done before.

"No that's not necessary" Spyro said this time.

"Why don't you introduce them to the young ones?" Georga suggested.

"Of course" the dragoness said snapping out of her trance of meeting the heroes.

She started walking towards the curtain but stopped just before going in, "My name is Zorgna by the way".

"Pleased to meet you Zorgna" Spyro and Cynder said in unison.

"Pleased to meet you" Sparx quickly added too.

The dragons got through the curtain and entered the playroom where the youngling were.

The playroom was a colourful room with light purple walls and ceiling and the walls were dotted with red spots. The floor was blue with stripes of darker blue. The room was littered with all kinds of colourful toys and on the sides there were a couple of tiny piles of straw on which the little ones slept.

There were about 11 young dragons in the room playing around and 2 more were sleeping on the piles of straw.

"Geora you're here" A tiny voice chirped.

Spyro looked down and saw that Furno was running up towards Georga.

"Hi Spy, Hi Cyn" Furno said as he spotted them.

"Hi there Furno" Cynder walked up to him and rubbed his head.

"Geora!" The rest of the little dragons raced up towards the earth dragoness.

Georga lowered herself and hugged them all in her paws.

"Wow Georga's popular" Cynder thought.

"You look different" a little ice dragoness said to Georga.

"Volt teach you lesson again?" a small electric dragon then asked her.

"No I went to a beauty farm together with her" Georga said pointing at Cynder.

"Beauty farm what's that?" Another small dragon asked; a male earth dragon this time.

"It's a place only for dragonesses and it's were they make you sparkling" Georga answered the whelplings questioning.

"Was it good?" The ice dragoness asked.

"Very good Nyla" Georga answered.

"But I would like to introduce you to two of my new friends" Georga got up on looked at Spyro and Cynder.

"These are the legendary Spyro and Cynder. These two defeated that bad dark master".

"Wow!" The whelplings shouted almost in unison.

Cynder and Spyro felt a bit uneasy by the 11 little dragons looking with amazed eyes at them.

Right afterwards the whelplings ran towards them and climbed on them.

Spyro and Cynder were completely covered by the young dragons.

Luckily for them Zorgna stepped in.

"Now, now give the heroes some air" She said with a sweet but demanding tone.

Some whelplings got off but some other stayed on.

"Off you!" Zorna said a bit sterner this time.

The rest of the whelplings quickly got off and joined the others.

"I met Spy and Cyn first" Furno said boastful when got off and walked towards Nyla.

"A moment only" Nyla shot back.

"I met heroes before in my home" He said still very boastful.

"You did not!" Nyla shouted.

"I did!"

"You didn't!"

"I did!"

"Quite you two!" Georga said sharply to the small dragons.

"She can be very intimidating when she wants to be" Cynder thought herself surprised by Georga's sharp accent.

After the whelplings had settled down and returned to playing Zorgna walked back towards the curtain.

"I will leave them in your care for now Georga" she instructed the young earth dragoness.

"You still owe me for striking your day off for that beauty farm so you can take care of them the rest of the day".

"That's not fair Zorgna!" Georga shouted back to her.

"I worked double time the day before that so that put's it even again. You take over halfway through the shift!".

"All right you win I will take them but since I had to put a lot of effort into it you will work alone up until the shift" Zorgna offered.

"All right" Georga settled for it.

"Is she your boss?" Spyro Georga asked when Zorna was gone.

"No she is my colleague" Georga answered.

"Well you guys just watch me for a moment and try to learn!" Georga ordered Spyro and Cynder.

She walked up to the welplings and started to speak to them in a very maternal voice.

"It's time for your morning exercise!" She cheerfully said.

"Aw can't I play?" Static asked.

"Afterwards, now will you please line up" Georga asked.

The little dragons all lined up and looked inquisitively at Georga.

"Look at me carefully and do what I do" Georga instructed.

Georga then lifted her left wing and raised her right paw.

The whelplings followed suit.

She then slammed her tail downwards and got to her hind legs.

Having a much lighter body the whelplings got to their hind legs more easily.

Georga then got down with her belly on the floor

This time not all whelplings succeeded and some smacked against the floor.

Then Georga got up again and lifted her right hind leg and lowered her head down to the floor.

The whelplings had a much shorter neck so it looked quiet different.

Georga continued stretching and moving her body in all kinds of different ways and the whelplings followed them all.

Cynder and Spyro stood still and watched Georga put the whelplings through there paces.

"She does it all pretty well" Spyro said to Cynder

"Yeah just look at those dance moves" Sparx said mockingly

"Yeah they are following her perfectly" Cynder answered while swatting Sparx with her tail.

"Those whelplings look so cute" Cynder thought as she looked to the little dragons moving their undeveloped bodies.

Georga stopped moving for a minute "Hey Cynder want to try it?"

"What! Well I um" Cynder stammered

"Go on Cynder do it" Spyro gave her a push with his wing.

Cynder walked up to Georga who moved out of the way to let Cynder do the drills.

"Now Cynder is going to give you your morning exercises I want all of you to follow her closely" She instructed.

"Okay Geora" The whelpings replied.

"What do I do now?" Cynder thought as she panicked a little while looking at the 13 little faces of the whelplings awaiting their next exercise.

Seeing that Cynder was under pressure Georga walked back to her "Just think up some moves it doesn't really matter what" she whispered

"Just think some up well okay then" Cynder thought while putting her wings straight in the air and stretching her tail.

The little dragons repeated but they didn't know this one so it was a bit tougher for them.

"Now um… Wait I know!" Cynder crouched in and got in her battle stand.

The little dragons did the same althrough a bit surprised by this move.

Cynder spun her head upwards and moved her talons downwards in an double x like fashion as if she was attacking a enemy.

The small whelplings had great difficulty with these rapid and swift movements.

Cynder then spun around and lashed out with her tail blade while she kept her tail close to her body.

The little dragons tried to repeat but many fell down, Because of the soft floor it didn't hurt them.

Cynder then jumped and made a slash movement with her tail again.

The little dragons tried but none succeeded either they either couldn't jump high enough or they couldn't spin around to get their tail in front.

Cynder was now really in her battle mode and continued.

She made a rapid scratching like movement with her front paws before spinning around and giving a powerful kick with her hind leg.

All but Nyla failed on this one too.

"Stop Cynder they can't do those moves" Georga stepped in.

"Ow I um I am sorry" Cynder was so absorbed in her moves that she wasn't paying much attention to the whelplings.

"It's okay" Georga said

Cynder looked down and saw that the whelplings were very disoriented from her advanced combat moves.

"Spyro why don't you try it?" Georga said looking at him

"Don't you think they have had enough" Spyro asked her looking at the whelplings

"No mostly they have to do much more so don't worry" Georga assured him

"Okay then" Cynder moved out of the way to let Spyro stand in front of the little dragons.

"Now Spyro is going to perform the moves, I want all of you to follow him closely" She once again instructed to the whelplings.

Spyro looked down on the tired whelplings and thought what to do.

"Well I guess I also should use my battle moves but I should keep to the basic ones to keep it simple" he thought.

Now he got to his battle position and the small dragons did the same.

He started with a thrust of his horns upwards followed by a thrust downwards.

The young dragons did the same perfectly.

Now Spyro got to his hind legs and slashed out with his claws in an x like fashion.

The whelplings also did this move perfectly

"Well maybe I should do something different them my battle moves" he thought as the whelplings copied every one of his basic moves perfectly.

He got a bit lower to the ground and tightened his body like he was charging up an attack.

The little dragons followed but when the looked up they were surprised to see that he hadn't made a different move yet.

Spyro then spread his wings while the rest of his body stayed completely frozen.

The young dragons followed but they were very mystified.

Spyro then put his tail on the ground and seemed to exert force against it.

The whelplings followed more intrigued then ever.

Spyro finally gave a mighty thrust with his paws, tail and wings and jumped so high that he bumped on the ceiling.

The whelpling also jumped very high some even jumped about 5 times their height.

By now the whelplings seemed exhausted so Georga called it quits.

"Those are some pretty impressive moves you got there" she said after she put down a tired whelpling on a pile of straw.

"Thanks but they were a bit too good" Cynder said as she remembered all the whelplings falling after they failed to repeat her advanced combat moves.

"It's your first time so you had to improvise and you did it pretty well" Georga complimented her.

"Now I want you to go to the kitchen" Georga ordered to Spyro and Cynder.

"The kitchen?" Spyro repeated.

"Yes the kitchen, I want you to prepare the lunch together with Zorgna" Georga said to them.

"It's the other curtain from the hall, once you get there Zorgna will tell you what to do"

Spyro and Cynder left Georga with the little ones and got to the kitchen were they found Zorgna working on some sheep meat.

"Um Zorgna? Georga sent us to help you with the lunch" Cynder said to the ice dragoness.

Zorgna turned and saw them standing "She did? Well I could use a paw" She said to them.

"What are your elements?" She asked.

"Well I have fire, electricity, ice and earth" Spyro said a bit surprised by the question.

"And I have poison, fear, wind and shadow" Cynder added.

"Ow yes how could I forget you have multiple elements, now-" Zorgna picked up the boar she was going to work on and put it down on the floor.

"I want Cynder to cut this into tiny strips and then I want Spyro to assist me with this sheep".

Cynder started to use her tail blade to cut the boar into neat strips of meat.

"What do you want me to do?" Spyro asked.

"I want you to use your fire breath and cook this sheep" Zorgna ordered him "Normally I do it with the furnace but a fire dragon breath is much more easy".

Spyro did as he was told and breathed a stream of fire at the sheep carcass.

"Wow! Not so much Spyro" Zorgna shrunk back for the hot flames.

Spyro eased down his stream of fire to a gentle stream of barely visible fire.

"Much better now keep it up".

Because the stream barely took any energy Spyro could keep breathing the fire for a long time.

"That's enough you can stop now" Zorgna ordered Spyro.

Spyro stopped his fire stream, the sheep was now steaming hot but not burned.

"Finished! Now what do I do now?" Cynder asked Zorgna.

"Pick some fruits for me out of that drawer and but them in a bowl" Zorgna answered.

"Now Spyro I will finish on the sheep, you go and pulverise the fruits with your earth element when Cynder has put them in the bowl".

Zorgna started to cut the sheep with her talons while Spyro walked up to Cynder.

"Now that I think of it I have never cooked before in my life" He thought.

"Always the food was either made for me or I ate it raw".

"What kind of fruits should I use?" Cynder asked Zorgna

"Just pick some at random it doesn't really matter for them" Zorgna answered without looking at her.

Cynder picked some fruits that she liked out of the drawer and put them into the stone bowl she found laying on the ground.

After Cynder had put them all in she stepped back to let Spyro do his part.

"Um well I guess I should use my earth flail" He thought and then he created the magical earth globe on a cord that he used to squash the fruits into mush.

"Cooking can be fun" Cynder thought just as Spyro she also had never cooked before.

"Now what?" Spyro and Cynder asked Zorgna.

"Will you please stop asking everything!" Zorgna was getting a bit annoyed.

"You have some fruit mush and some boar strips just make something out of it for the little ones" She ordered with an angry tone.

"Well let's see" Cynder said a bit unsure.

"Well I guess we just sop the boar strips into the fruit mush" Spyro said to her knowing it was obvious and very simple.

After all the boar strips were covered in fruit mush they put them on a large dish

"No, no, they must all get a separate dish" Zorgna said as she saw what they were doing

Zorgna picked up some small bowls "Use these instead".

Spyro and Cynder picked the 13 bowls and divided the boar strips between them.

"Good now I can take care of the rest myself. Why don't you go back and help Georga?" Zorgna said to them.

"Okay Zorgna" Spyro and Cynder walked out of the kitchen and back towards the main room.

"I think that could have gone better" Cynder said to Spyro.

"Well you can't have talent for everything" Spyro said to her.

"That's true"

After Spyro and Cynder got back to Georga they helped her with the whelplings for about another 10 minutes.

"It's lunch time!" a cheerful voice sounded

Spyro and Cynder turned to see Zorgna walk into the room carrying a large dish with 13 small bowls on it with her wings.

"Yeah!" All the little dragons shouted waking up the 3 that were sleeping.

All 13 dragons raced up towards Zorgna as she put down the dish.

"This one is mine" Static grabbed one of the bowls.

"No it's mine!" Furno also put his jaws on it.

The two dragons then pulled the bowl back and forth.

Suddenly Georga swooped the bowl from between their tiny jaws.

"It's for Nyla now these two are for you!" She said with a stern voice.

She gave them to of the bowls and the young dragons settled down and ate their meal.

"That Furno can be a handful sometimes" She said to Cynder after all the dragons had started eating.

"Yeah he sure can" Sparx remarked.

"Sparx! Were did you come from?" Cynder asked as she had totally forgotten about him.

"Well I stayed here because I didn't want to end up in one of those bowls"

"You just don't want to work" Spyro said a bit accusing

"That's not true! I do work" Sparx said angry

"Ow yeah like when?" Cynder asked a bit mockingly

"Well I um" Sparx couldn't think one up

"Well there's your answer" Georga said smiling

With that all dragons laughed and Sparx colour turned golden as his temper rose.

When the dragons had eaten their meal they got back to their toys.

"Well now it's play time so want to join?" Georga asked Spyro and Cynder.

"Sure but what do we do?" Cynder asked

"Well just think of something fun for them" Georga said to Cynder

"Like what?" Cynder asked

"Use your imagination!" Georga was getting annoyed by her constant questions "Just don't over think things".

Georga had sent 4 of the whelplings to Cynder to play with.

Cynder stood frozen while looking at the tiny dragons.

Then she turned and saw that Spyro was lifting dragons with his wings and wrestling with some others.

"Looks like he can do it fine" She thought "Well if he can do it so can I".

"Well guys we are going to um-" Cynder couldn't think of something.

"What's um?" Static asked her.

Cynder could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks but she kept her mouth shut.

"Wait I know!" suddenly something came to her.

"Try to climb to my head little ones" She said with the best challenging voice she could.

"How?" Some asked.

"Go to my tail and try to climb up to my horns" Cynder explained while she lowered her tail to the ground.

The whelplings ran towards her tail and started to climb

"It does feel a bit weird" Cynder thought as she felt the tiny dragons climb on her like she was a climbing frame.

All 4 dragons reached her head and Cynder used her wings to put them down again.

The 4 little dragons seemed to have enjoyed the game.

"Okay let's try that again" Cynder thought "But this time a bit more challenging".

"Okay now climb again to my head but this time I won't sit still" She said to the small dragons

When Cynder felt the tiny dragons climbing up her tail she began to shake slightly.

Cynder couldn't see the whelplings but she could feel they had trouble keeping there grip since Cynder didn't have any back spikes.

But despite her shaking all the whelplings reached her head again and she put them down again.

"Again, again" The whelplings shouted excitably.

"Okay then" Cynder lowered her tail and the whelplings climbed on again.

Cynder moved a bit more this time and wobbled her hips.

"Whoa" Cynder heard a shout and all of a sudden she felt a very sharp feeling in her lower regions.

One of the little dragons had fallen off the base of her tail and in his panic had scratched Cynder's private parts.

Cynder jumped up and shouted as the jolt of both pain and pleasure raced through her body.

What Cynder think about was that the remaining whelplings were still on her body.

Two of them fell off without any harm but the one that was grabbing the end of her tail was launched into the air when Cynder had jumped up.

"Wheeeh!" the whelpling cried when he hit the ground.

Cynder ran towards the whelplings that was crying.

"Are you okay?" She asked but the whelpling just shrug away from her and continued to cry.

"Does it hurt somewhere?" Cynder asked but the whelpling still didn't respond.

"I'm sorry already!" Cynder was getting agitated from the whelpling's lack of response.

Now the other whelplings started crying too.

"Bestuos!" now Georga came running to Cynder and the whelpling

"I will take care of this, you gays try to calm down the other ones!" She ordered to Cynder and also to Spyro

Cynder walked towards a group of whelplings but didn't say anything.

Spyro got lower to the whelplings and spread his wings a little like he was protecting them.

"It's okay nothing bad happened" He whispered to one of the whelplings

Cynder looked at Spyro whispering to the whelplings "How is he doing it so well?" She thought very frustrated.

"I'm sorry about what I did" She said as softly as she could to the little whelplings.

The whelplings however didn't reply and Cynder didn't do anything more.

After only minute Georga had already comforted the little dragon and the situation returned to normal.

Cynder however didn't participate anymore and stood on the sidelines.

After about an hour playtime was over and the whelplings were put to bed.

Georga asked if Cynder wanted to help but she refused.

After the whelplings were put to bed Zorgna took over and Georga's shift ended.

Cynder walked silently with Georga and Spyro back towards the citadel.

"Come on Cynder it wasn't your fault" Spyro tried to comfort her.

"But I did everything wrong! I messed up the exercises, couldn't think of anything during the cooking and even hurt one of the whelplings" she almost shouted.

"You somehow did everything right even though you had just as little experience as I did" She continued

"Well I just thought about my own youth and somehow it just came to me" Spyro explained.

"My youth" Cynder couldn't remember any youth at all.

"The only thing I remember of my youth is being Malafor's servant and destroying everything I saw" She thought and a small tear started to form.

"Hey what are you to moping about for?" Georga stepped in between them.

"Cynder is just down because everything went always wrong with her" Sparx said but Cynder didn't respond she was to deep in thought.

"Cynder I think you did rather well for your first time with whelplings" Georga complimented her.

"Your just saying that to try and cheer me up" Cynder snapped.

"No the first time I worked I didn't fair much better" She reassured her.

"Yeah with you I can understand that" Sparx said mockingly.

With that Cynder blew a small amount of wind that blew him away a few meters.

"He really needs to watch his mouth" Spyro said trying to lift up the mood.

"Yeah for everybody's sake" Georga said with a smirk.

With that the three dragons spread there wings and started to fly to the citadel instead while Sparx was hurrying to catch up.

"I have to do something else first so I won't go with you back to the citadel" Georga said while they were flying back.

"What do you have to do?" Cynder asked her.

"It's personal so do you mind if I can keep I for myself" She asked with a very serious tone.

"Okay then sheesh don't be so tight" Sparx said.

"I understand Georga" Cynder said kindly as if Sparx hadn't said anything.

Georga flew onto a other direction while Spyro and Cynder continued towards the citadel.

After a few minutes Georga had reached the lower parts of Warfang and had almost reached her destination.

She landed in front of a old decayed building and knocked on the door.

After a few minutes the door opened and revealed a young fire dragon standing in the hallway.

"Georga what are you doing here?" He asked very surprised.

"Can't I check up on my best friend Oxidus" She rhetorically asked him.

"Well I am kind of busy" He tried to make her leave.

"But I don't believe you and I have something important to ask!" She said very stern what took Oxidus by surprise.

"Okay then you can come but make it short" He said defeated.

Georga entered the tiny house and lay down on one of the improvised couches.

"What's wrong with you Oxidus?" She asked with a very serious tone "You refused to come when I asked you to play tailball with Spyro and you almost ignored Spyro and Cynder when they arrived here"

"You know that I-" Oxidus started but Georga cut him off

"You can't fool me with the excuse that you are too busy because I know you to well! Now what's wrong?" She demanded.

Oxidus didn't reply but his body tightened

"Does it have something to do with Fuoca maybe?" Georga asked

Oxidus just tightened even more and tears started to form in his orange eyes.

"So that's it isn't it" Georga softly.

Oxidus still didn't reply but now also he started to tremble a little.

"You know it wasn't your fault there was nothing you could do" She reassured him.

"It was just her time to go" she said trying to comfort him.

"Get out! Get out you bitch!" Oxidus totally flipped out.

"What did you just call me?" Georga now started to get angry herself.

"I am only trying to help you Oxidus!" Georga shouted.

"You have been moping around and pretending to be overworked for the last 5 days now".

Oxidus got into his battle stand and snarled angrily at her.

"Do you really think she wanted you to act like this" she scolded.

"Get out of my home!" he screamed and with that he shot a stream of fire towards Georga.

Georga blocked it with her wings but the searing hot flames burned her membranes.

Georga squealed as she felt her wing membranes being burned by her best friend.

"You don't even know what I feels like to lose someone like that!" Oxidus furiously shouted at her.

With that Georga ran out of the house while crying uncontrollably.

Spyro and Cynder had reached the front entrance of the citadel and got inside.

"It's nice we don't have to use the back door anymore and that we can just fly around again" Cynder thought as she remembered that yesterday they still had to sneak there way around the city.

"Ah there you youngsters are" Spyro and Cynder turned to see Cyril on the other side of the room.

"How was the day?"

"Well It could have gone better but it was nice" Cynder answered and Spyro knotted in agreement.

"How so?" Cyril asked.

Sparx wanted to say something to embarrass Cynder but a short snarl from Spyro shut him.

"We went to a dragon daycare" Spyro explained to Cyril.

"But because of her lack of a youth Cynder didn't do it very well".

"I see. Well all of us have some thing we can't do. Now do you little dragons want some dinner" He said gleefully.

"Yeah a good boar would surely be nice" Spyro said while smiling at Cynder.

After they had dinner together with the guardians Spyro and Cynder got to their room to discuss the day as usual.

"Well I think that daycare went very bad" Cynder said still a bit down

"Do you guys have to bring that up again and again" Sparx said a bit annoyed.

"Cynder stinks with small dragons! We know that by now so just let it go"

"He makes an excellent point there Cynder" Spyro said to her

"Everybody is bad in something so fret about it"

"Okay Spyro I will" Cynder said while putting up a smile again.

"What do you think Georga was going to do?" Spyro then asked Cynder

"I don't know but she said it was personal so let's not try to guess it" Cynder said

"Tomorrow we will ask and if she doesn't want to tell then it is fine"

"Your right Cynder she too must be able to determine her borders" Spyro answered.

"Hey Cynder you really need to try this thing" Spyro walked up to the shelf that had their toys and picked the one out of it he wanted with his jaws.

"Yes Spyro show me" Cynder also wanted to lift the mood a little.

"You see you spin it around with you jaws like this and then-" Spyro showed Cynder some toys and the two young dragons played like whelplings for about another hour.

After they had played enough they decided that it was time for bed and also Sparx floated to the toy with the straw in it.

"Good night Cynder" Spyro said as he lay down on the sheet

"Good night Spyro" Cynder said as she joined him.


	7. a friend's aid

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 7 a friend's aid**

The sun came shining through the window as Georga eyes were still open. She had locked herself up in her room right after she got home and she hadn't slept at all during the night.

"You don't even know what I feels like to lose someone like that!" Oxidus his words kept repeating themselves in her mind.

"He knows that's not true but how could he say something like that to me?" She kept thinking

She looked again at the black burn marks on her wings, the wounds had mostly healed so they didn't hurt anymore but they were still visible "And he also attacked me when I was only trying to help".

"Oxidus what has happened to you?" She despaired.

"Why are you so fierce? And why did you act towards me like that?" Georga just couldn't figure out why her best friend had been so hostile towards her.

"Didn't that promise mean anything to you Oxidus?" Georga once again felt tears forming in her eyes.

In the dragon citadel Spyro and Cynder were waking up and decided to fly a bit around together.

Cynder looked at the purple dragon that was flying beside her "It's nice to make a stroll with him instead of alone".

They stopped and laid down inside a damaged tower that stood in the middle of the city to rest a bit before returning to the citadel.

"Hey Spyro doesn't this place look familiar" Cynder said as she intently recognised the building.

"Yeah this was the place were we fought that earth golem" Spyro answered as he remembered fighting the huge monster.

"We sure have been through a lot together haven't we?" Cynder asked him while she moved a bit closer to him.

"We sure have Cynder, we sure have" Spyro smiled as he looked at the lovely black dragoness next to him.

"I must say I haven't felt this relaxed in my life" Spyro said to Cynder after a period of silence.

"Well I have, at that beauty farm" Cynder said while smiling.

"I still wanted to ask you about that" Spyro remembered.

"What did they do exactly?".

He spent another 10 minutes listening to Cynder story about the beauty farm.

"Wow that's sound like it felt very nice" He said when Cynder had finished.

"It was but I was very surprised at first, I just never thought about something like a beauty farm" Cynder admitted.

"Well I'm glad that Georga did because you looked and still look sparkling to look at" he said to her as her scales were still shining from the treatment.

"Ow Spyro you're so kind" Cynder said flirtingly before giving him a small kiss on his cheek.

"um no problem Cynder" Spyro stammered as he felt his cheeks flushing red.

Cynder giggled and rubbed her head against his neck and hummed softly.

Spyro felt both at ease and very uneasy with the feeling of Cynder rubbing her head against his neck.

He decided to just relax and enjoy this although something in him still resented it.

"Well I'm getting pretty hungry what do you say that we go back towards the citadel to have breakfast?" Cynder suggested after a moment.

After they had flown back to the citadel they met Terrador at the entrance.

"Hey Terrador were are you going?" Cynder asked

"I'm just going to check up on something" He answered "Why don't you go and have your breakfast?"

After Terrador had taken off Spyro and Cynder got to the kitchen were they found Cyril and Volteer.

"Yes and the legend goes on about-" Volteer was rattling Cyril ear holes off again.

"Ah you young ones are a sight for sore eyes" Cyril said cheerful, glad to have something to escape from Volteer's endless stories.

"Well Cyril your not in a very nice mood today" Volteer said superficial.

"Well your story will make every day sour" Sparx brought in as he appeared in the kitchen.

Volteer drew a annoyed face and took off getting back to his books.

"He can be so tiresome" Cyril complained when Volteer was out of hearing distance.

"Well listening to your boasting about your 'royal' blood can be annoying too" Spyro said before giving a wink to Cynder.

"Yes what was it again? The noble Glacd blood?" Cynder asked getting the hint.

"It's the royal Glaciad blood!" Cyril almost yelled.

"Sure about that? I'm curtain you once told me it was ijsciad" Spyro said mockingly.

"If you are only here to mock me then I will take my leave" Cyril said as he walked grunting out of the room.

"Well that worked like a charm" Spyro said smirking to Cynder.

"Yes he is always so sensitive about his 'royal' blood" Cynder replied putting a mocking emphasis on the word royal.

"What worked?" Sparx asked not getting what they had done.

"We wanted to have breakfast together and therefore the guardians couldn't be present" Spyro explained while he shifted an eye towards Cynder.

"And you also can't be present" Cynder said kindly and Sparx took his leave knowing what the consequences of refusal were.

After Spyro and Cynder had ordered their breakfast and the moles were out of hearing distance Cynder and Spyro started talking.

"What business do you think Georga was going to do?" Spyro asked Cynder.

"Well she said it was private so we shouldn't go make guesses about it" Cynder said with a sharp tone.

"We will just ask it to her then" Spyro said

After they had talked some more they got their food and they began their breakfast.

"It's nice to have breakfast together for once" Spyro said just before he picked up a deer leg.

"Yes especially without Sparx" Cynder said

"Sparx can be annoying sometimes but he means well and I still do love him dearly" Spyro reminded her.

"I know you do Spyro" Cynder said before returning to her piece of deer.

When the two dragons had finished eating they got off towards Georga's house to ask her about yesterday. Underway they also picked up Sparx who had been waiting for them to finish their breakfast.

"Are you always going to exclude me from now on?" Sparx asked annoyed as they flew towards Georga's house.

"That's not such a bad idea Sparx" Cynder teased.

"You can stay, but you just need to be able to shut your mouth sometimes" Spyro told Sparx.

"And if you can't do it then someone else will help you with that" Cynder added in a generous tone.

"Your always so helpful" Sparx said sarcastically.

When they had arrived at the plain house of Georga Cynder walked up towards the door and knocked with her talons.

"Ah Spyro and Cynder" Volt said as he appeared in front of them.

"Is Georga home?" Cynder asked him.

"Well yes she is home but she can't come" Volt said looking a bit sad.

"Does she have homework?" Spyro asked thinking that with Georga's job that was very strange.

"No but she-" Volt didn't finish his sentence.

"She's what?" Cynder was getting worried.

"Come inside and I will tell you" Volt said while walking back into the house.

After the three dragons had laid down Volt explained "Georga came home yesterday crying heavily. I asked her what was wrong but she didn't answer and just ran straight to her room. While she passed me I noticed that she had burn wounds on her wings. She then locked herself up in her room using an earth wall and she won't answer me no matter what I say."

"Wow what could have happened to her?" Spyro asked Cynder and Volt

"I don't know. I never expected her to act like that" Cynder answered

"She also rarely does" Volt said "She hasn't been this sad since three years"

"What happened three years ago then?" Cynder asked getting intrigued.

"It doesn't matter Cynder" Spyro said a bit stern "Volt, do you think there is something we can do?"

"No I don't think so, if she even doesn't answer me then I don't think there is much anyone can do until she calms down"

"Well let's go back to the citadel then" Sparx suggested

"Okay we will go back" Spyro said

"Okay then say hi to Georga if you have the chance" Cynder said while she felt very reluctant on leaving her friend.

After they had gotten back to the citadel they got to their room and started reading some books.

Cynder kept reading the same page over and over again while not taking in a word of it.

The hours passed and they closed their books to get some fresh air.

They flew around the city but the day passed without anything interesting.

Cynder always seemed very absent minded

After the uneventful they the dragons got to bed as usual

"Thank for that"

"No thanks you are my friend"

"Do you mean that"

"Of course I do silly I thought you knew me better"

"I do now"

"That's good. remember that I am here for you"

"I know you are"

Cynder woke up from her dream "Another one again" She thought.

"This one is happy too. What could it have meant".

"This one was about someone's aid to a friend but just who are they?".

Cynder kept thinking about it for some time.

Another thought was keeping Cynder busy as well and she kept awake for a good hour.

Spyro started to open his eyes and saw that Cynder was already awake.

"Did you have a dream again?" He asked her.

"Yes I did" She answered short.

"What was it about this time?".

"Someone thanked another for some kind a aid".

"Now that's strange" he said "Any idea what it could be about?".

"No I know just as much as you do" Cynder answered plainly.

After they had dismissed the subject they got down for some breakfast.

"I want to check up on Georga again as soon as possible today" Cynder said very sure.

"Alright then we will go after breakfast" Spyro said a bit surprised by Cynder's spirit.

When breakfast was finished they flew towards Georga's house again.

Just like last time Cynder knocked on the door and Volt opened it.

"Ow it's you gays again. Come here to check up on Georga?" He guessed.

"That's right does she answer you now?" Cynder asked Volt hoping the best.

"No the situation is the same as last time. Although she now does reply now but she just tells me to get lost"

"That's too bad well I guess we try again tomorrow" Sparx said lightly while holding his hands behind his head.

"Yeah I guess so" Cynder said a bit unsure.

After they left they got back to the citadel again.

They got back to reading books but Cynder still felt uneasy.

All of a sudden Cynder stood up "I am going" she declared

"Going where?" Spyro asked

"Georga"

"Georga? But she won't answer anyone!" Spyro reminded puzzled by her sudden decision.

"I will make sure she will!" She replied with a strong voice. With that Cynder took of from their aerial entrance and flew towards Georga's house.

"What has gotten into her?" Sparx asked Spyro

"I don't know but I think I should bother with it" Spyro answered

"What? You're just going to let her go and do nothing!" Sparx shouted.

"Georga is Cynder's friend, not mine and she has to do this on her own" Spyro lectured "Sometimes you must leave people to their own devices because it's none of your business"

"Now you're starting to sound like Volteer" Sparx said annoyed.

It had been two days and Georga still was crushed by what had happened.

"Cynder what are you doing here again" she heard Volt's voice indicating her that Cynder had arrived again.

Cynder said something but she couldn't make out what it was.

Suddenly she heard a knock on the rock wall she build just behind her curtain "Georga it's me, Cynder I want to speak with you" Cynder's voice sounded calm but very determined.

"Get lost!" Georga shouted.

"Remove this wall now!" Cynder ordered in a sharp voice.

Georga was very surprised by Cynder's sharp command but she shouted her to get lost nonetheless.

"Remove it or I will blow it up" Cynder now really sounded angry.

"Cynder you don't mean that do you?" Volt's voice sounded a bit shocked.

"I do" Cynder replied short.

"Cynder" Volt was out of words from Cynder's response.

"This is a girl's thing and you keep out of this you!" She ordered the dragon that Georga knew was easily seven times her size.

"But-" Volt's voice sounded very weak.

"No but's you are going to seek a secluded place inside the house and stay there until I come to get you!" Cynder ordered and much to Georga's surprise Volt didn't reply and the sound of hiss loud footsteps indicating that he had done what the little dragoness ordered him.

"Now I'm going to ask it one last time!" Cynder said very sternly and crystal clear.

"Lower this wall and let me in, or I will blow this thing to pieces" Cynder said very sharp.

"Try me" Georga said cocky.

Suddenly Georga heard a tremendous blow and was dazed as a bright purple light blinded her. The only thing she spotted were rocks and debris flying through the air and it was just luck that she got no more then just a few bruises. When Georga had regained her vision her room was completely destroyed by Cynder's attack. Georga was however paying no attention to that and only looked at the black dragon that stood in the newly created hole of her room.

Cynder walked up to Georga and looked at her with a stern but also caring look in her eyes.

"Georga what has happened?" She asked in a almost maternal voice.

"It's none of your business!" Georga snapped.

Cynder walked closer to Georga "It is" she said in a dark and stern tone.

"No it's isn't!" Georga snapped again but the look in Cynder's eyes seemed to break her will and strike fear in her heart.

Tears started form in Georga's eyes "You couldn't understand" she snapped while sobbing

"Nobody can if you don't tell them Georga" Cynder said calmly to her like she was giving a lecture.

"No! You can't solve this only he can!" Georga shouted as she launched at Cynder.

Cynder however ducked and used her tail to give Georga a small push, that caused Georga to lose her coordination and fall behind her. Georga got up and launched at her again but Cynder sidestepped and Georga fell down once more.

"You could never beat me Georga" Cynder said calm "I am easily ten times more powerful then you are"

"Get out!" Georga shot an earth missile at Cynder, but Cynder used her tail blade to smash the shot.

"Are you finished so that we can talk or are you going to fire some more shots?" Cynder asked like nothing was going on she was totally unfazed by Georga's attack.

"You dirty bitch!" Georga launched at her and this time she managed to grab hold of Cynder knocking her down on her back with Georga on top.

However Cynder simply grapped her paws with her own and Georga couldn't pull them lose. Cynder then bit Georga in the neck drawing blood.

Georga cringed and tried to slam Cynder with her tail globe. Cynder was faster however, flipped over and threw Georga away.

Georga smacked against a wall with full force and the house shook from the heavy blow.

Georga stumbled to her feet but fell down again as it felt like she had broken a few bones.

"Are you finished now or are we going to continue with this foolish fight?" Cynder asked her sharply "I hate hurting you Georga but if you won't listen then you leave me with no choice" she said with a very grievous voice.

Seeing in Cynder's eyes that she meant what she just said and that there was no way she could make her go away Georga's mind finally broke and she started crying.

"It's Oxidus!" Georga shouted as she started to sob.

"He-he-he-he-he a-a-a-a-att-tt-tt-attack-attacked, m-m-m-me!" Georga stuttered while she was crying.

"Who is this Oxidus and why does it mean so much to you" Cynder asked intrigued but she had some difficulty retaining her calmness.

"He-he w-w-was, 'sob' my…best friend" Georga sobbed.

"I see" Cynder knew that was short but she couldn't think of anything more to say.

"I-I-I wa-wanted t- t-to a-ask him wha-what ,w-was-was wron-wrong" Georga said still stuttering.

"And then he attacked you is that it" Cynder finished for her.

"Yes but what's worse is what he-" Georga had stopped stuttering but couldn't make it to finish her sentence

"He did what?" Cynder was determined to get down to the bottom of the problem no matter what.

"You don't even know what I feels like to lose someone like that!" Georga shouted so hard that it seemed half the neighbourhood heard it having repeated it inside her mind millions of times "That's what he said to me".

Cynder didn't understand "Why is that so bad?".

"He knows it isn't true, if anyone knows that it would be him so how could he say that!" Georga shouted still crying.

"Georga I don't know why he said it to you or why he attacked but I will make sure I find out" Cynder assured her.

"And I will also make sure that he apologises to you" Cynder added with a small sneer.

"Do you promise that?" Georga asked with a tiny voice.

"I promise Georga. You are my friend and if friends have problems they can always ask for help" Cynder said warmly to her walking closer to her until she was looking Georga straight in the face.

"A real friend always helps out another friend even if she doesn't want it" Cynder said smiling while she gently stroke away tears from Georga's cheeks.

"Thank you Cynder" Georga said softly while she forced out the last of her tears.

"It's what friends do remember" Cynder said warmly petting her head.

Georga got up but a sharp pain in her hips brought her down again.

"Looks like you helped me a bit too much maybe" Georga said a bit cynical.

"I'm sorry Georga" Cynder apologized taking a step back from her and lowering her head "I never meant to really hurt you"

"I know that Cynder but could you take me to a healer" Georga said to her.

"Wait here Georga I will be right back" with that Cynder raced out of the room "Volt!, Volt! Where are you?" She shouted.

"Cynder what happened?" Volt came out of the kitchen where he had heard all the noises.

"What were you doing to her!" he demanded to know

"I will explain later but could you help me carry Georga to the healer?" Cynder almost demanded.

"Healer! Is she wounded?" He asked shocked

Cynder already turned and ran back to Georga's room "Let's take her to a healer and then we will talk" she shouted back sharply.

"What in the name of the ancestors!" Volt gasped as he looked at the havoc in Georga's room

"Georga!" he explained as he saw his foster daughter laying crippled on the floor in the ruins of her room.

Before they got a chance to talk Cynder stepped in between "Let's take her to the healer first" she ordered and Volt didn't have much to comment on it.

Cynder walked up to Georga and lifted her onto Volt's back and Volt used his tail to pull her on and hold her.

Together they walked through the street drawing attention from the people who had heard the shouting and blows from inside the house.

However the crowd didn't slow them down and they all moved out of the way when they saw Georga laying on Volt's back.

The healer was close by and they reached it quickly.

"Hallo anyone home?" Cynder shouted as the entered the building.

It was a large hall with some plants and other decorations but there was nobody in sight to help them.

"A patient? Please come this way" A voice sounded

Cynder looked and saw a mole standing just in front of a curtain.

Cynder and Volt walked through and put Georga down on a table in the room.

The room was simple white with some bottles but not many other things to look at.

The mole pulled on a cord and Cynder heard a bell ringing.

After a few moments they saw a medium sized male ice dragon enter the room.

"Please move" He ordered to them.

Cynder and Volt back and let the healer do his job.

The dragon touched Georga with his paw and his body seemed to emit some kind of light.

"It doesn't look serious" He said looking back at Volt en Cynder "I will be able to fix this in just a few minutes"

With that he brought his paws down on Georga again and the strange light returned although more brightly this time.

The light then moved to Georga and the wounds in her neck visibly healed and Cynder concluded that her bones healed as well.

After a few minutes the ice dragon stepped back "how are you feeling?"

"Fine sir" Georga answered before jumping off the table

"Good now I will take my leave then" with that the ice dragon walked back into the curtain from where he came from.

After they had gotten back to Georga's house they sat down on the couches.

"That healer was fast I think it don't we had been in that healer's office for more then just 3 minutes" Cynder was impressed by how short their trip to the healer was.

"Yeah it was fast" Georga looked a lot more at ease now "Thanks for helping me Cynder" she said smiling to her new friend.

"It was nothing Georga" Cynder replied.

"Well I never succeeded" Volt said with his powerful voice.

"No I didn't really think you would" Georga said a bit sarcastically.

Volt brought his tail up threateningly and look sharp at Georga.

Georga shrunk back a little "Hey I didn't mean anything by it" She assured him.

Cynder looked kindly at Volt and he lowered his tail blade again.

"Well anyway I ought to get home now it's getting late" Cynder said as she got up.

"Thank you again Cynder" Georga said while Cynder left for the door.

"Don't mention it" Cynder was getting embarrassed by Georga's gratitude.

"Thank you" Georga said once more with a very soft voice. Cynder smiled and flew of back towards the citadel feeling fully content with herself.

When Cynder reached the citadel she spotted Spyro waiting for her at the front entrance with Sparx as usual fly just besides his face. She landed in front of him and they walked back towards their room.

"What is it what you have done Cynder?" Spyro asked.

"I have settled things with Georga and she is happy again" Cynder explained cheerfully.

"Wow how did you do that?" Spyro stopped and looked very impressed at Cynder that shehad managed to do something in just two hours that Volt couldn't do in two days.

"It's a girl's secret and something that you could never understand" She said teasingly.

"Come on Cynder I can understand you" Spyro said a bit hurt.

"Let's just say I knocked some sense into her" she hinted.

"Knocked…some….sense." Spyro was connection the dots "Did you fight her!" he said quite loud.

"Good guess" Cynder said while grinning.

"And how is a cat fight going to settle a depressive girl" Sparx threw in.

"Well sometimes people need someone to help them to rip themselves of their high wings" Cynder said still smirking.

"That's true Cynder and I will be sure that I will help you if you needed me" Spyro teased.

"You will not" Cynder launched at him and the two had a wrestling competition in the large decorated hallway.

"What are you two doing?" Terrador asked as he saw Spyro and Cynder rolling around in the room and clawing away at each other.

"Playing" Sparx answered for them.

"Okay, but could you do that someplace else, you might break something in here" He said with a paternal voice.

"We will" Spyro said and he walked away with Cynder close behind.

Instead of continuing their wrestling they got to there rooms and started playing with the toys the guardians had given them.

"Well it turns out that these toys are pretty much fun" Cynder thought to herself remembering that she felt very offended when the guardians had given them.

After about an hour they got back down for diner together with the guardians.

"What did you do today Cynder? I saw you leave the citadel so where did you go?" Terrador asked during their meal.

"I went to Georga's place to try and cheer her up" Cynder answered.

"So did you succeed?" Cyril asked.

"I sure did although it wasn't easy"

"Yeah by fighting you made her feel better" Sparx said mockingly.

"That is splendid Cynder, it's really magnificent what you did" Volteer said ignoring Sparx.

"Yes that was very kind of you" Terrador complimented her.

"It was nothing" Cynder said smiling feeling fully satisfied.

After they had finished eating Spyro and Cynder got to their room and started reading some books. After a few hours they got tired and discussed the day before going to bed.

"Why were you suddenly so sure about what to do Cynder?" Spyro asked remembering her shooting out of the window.

"I have been thinking about it ever since I heard that she was down" Cynder explained "And at one point I just said to myself 'now is the time to do something about it'"

"Also the dream gave me a bit of a push in the back" She added as well.

"Those dreams of yours keep getting weirder Cynder" Spyro shook his head.

"Yes I don't know what they mean either but scratching our heads about it never got us anywhere so let's not do that" Cynder laid down on the sheet and gestured for Spyro to do the same.

Cynder laid on her side with her back to Spyro this time to keep her genitals away from his spikes. She suddenly felt his wing draping over her, she immediately felt more warm with her beloved purple dragon keeping her comfort and quickly fell asleep.


	8. a weird plan

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 8 a weird plan**

"I can't believe this is happening"

"But there is no time to wonder about that"

"This here is more important than anything"

"Quickly somebody is coming"

"Pant, pant,"

"Phew that one was close"

"Now to- Oh No"

-Silence-

"Did that dragon see me?"

"I can only hope that I can pull this off"

"Everything depends on it"

Cynder opened her eyes as the morning light that indicated the next day was already here seeped out of the window.

"And yet another one" she thought "Another voice dream"

"This one was about someone who had to do something but without any images I just can't tell what that is" She thought a bit aggravated

"Can't I dream about something good or at least something else then that stupid voice" she thought annoyed.

She stopped thinking about it when she turned her head and looked at the purple dragon that lay next to her. She watched his body raise and fall from his breathing and she listened to him as he snored very softly. The sunlight seemed to make his purple colour stand out even more and his warm body looked so inviting. She smiled at the look of her beloved sleeping so peacefully and snuggled up to him to be as close to him as she possibly could be. Feeling his warm body felt warmer then the sun rays and listening to his heartbeat felt like it was hypnotising her. She cuddled up to him even further and rested her body on his. She then quickly fell back into a peaceful and happy sleep again.

Spyro slowly opened his eyes as he woke and looked around a bit drowsy.

Suddenly he spotted that Cynder had cuddled up to him. She had her chest against his belly and she had her head under his chin, she had her front paws wrapped around his body and her tail was intertwined with his. Not a single part of their bodies was more than just a few centimetres apart.

Spyro shrieked and jumped back from the black dragoness.

Spyro's shriek had woken up Cynder "What's going on?" She asked startled.

"Urg now what" Sparx had also woken up.

"Um, Sorry I just um" Spyro cheeks flushed bright red he had no idea what to say at this moment.

"What Spyro?" Cynder got up and walked towards him.

"Sorry I just had a bad dream" He lied.

"Oh that's just it and you have to wake everyone for that" Sparx grumbled.

"I….um" Spyro began but Cynder cut him off.

"With all the fighting you have done in your life that's not surprising and it's time to wake up anyway".

"All right then let's get some chaw" Sparx already rushed down towards the kitchen.

"What was it that made you shriek Spyro?" Cynder asked him when Sparx was out of hearing distance "I know you well enough to detect when you're lying".

"Sorry I just panicked when I saw you laying that close to me" Spyro answered honestly this time.

Cynder drew an evil face "Am I that frightening then?" she said devilishly.

"Just don't do it again Cynder!" Spyro shouted angrily.

"Relax; now let's go down for some breakfast".

When they entered the kitchen they spotted Terrador eating together with Cyril.

"Ah there you two finally are" Sparx said a bit annoyed

"What took you?" Terrador asked

"We just had some things we had to discuss _together_!" Cynder said putting a large emphasis on the last word.

Terrador understood the hint and didn't question it further.

"I want a good piece of boar" Spyro ordered

"And I want 9 fried Salhers with Araherb spices" Cynder ordered

"That's something pretty luxurious for you" Spyro said as Cynder normally took very simple meals just like he did.

"Yeah I just figured that something different could also be nice" she said jaunty.

Spyro's meal arrived very quickly and Cynder told him that he shouldn't wait for her so he began on his boar. When Cynder's meal finally arrived Spyro had devoured more then half his boar already.

Cynder's meal consisted of 9 fishes of about 40 centimetres long. They were yellow from being fried and they were covered with the green spices.

Cynder instantly started on her dish and she really seemed to enjoy her fishes. She then broke one of the fishes and put one part of it on Spyro's dish

"Try it Spyro it's awesome" Cynder said with her mouth still full.

Spyro ate the fish that Cynder gave him but quickly drew a very dirty face.

"Cynder thinks this is good!" Spyro thought as he couldn't understand why she thought that the oily fish and very strong spices tasted well.

After they had finished eating they started to talk about what to do.

"I think going to Georga is the best option now" Cynder said.

"Yeah but she does have her job so we can't stay long" Spyro reminded her.

"Just one hour is good enough. I want to learn how I can help her with Oxidus"

"Oxidus? What does he have to do with it?" Spyro asked very surprised.

Suddenly It occurred to Cynder that she had forgotten to tell him "I made a promise to Georga that I would find out why Oxidus attacked her and I also promised to make sure that he apologizes to her for it as well" she explained

"I see, well off to Georga then" Spyro walked out the kitchen with Cynder and Sparx close behind.

By now Spyro and Cynder could move freely around the city, as long as they didn't do anything eye catching, so they reached Georga's house in about five minutes.

As usual it was Cynder who knocked on the door.

"It's you guys again" Volt said pleased to see them.

"Georga is washing herself but she will be finished soon, come inside"

Spyro and Cynder followed Volt and settled down on the couches.

"So what are you planning to do with that promise Cynder?" Volt asked her.

"I came here hoping to find that out" Cynder said.

After a short while Georga appeared out of the bathroom.

"Cynder! Spyro!" She was a bit surprised to see them.

"Good to see you again Georga" Spyro said cheerfully.

"Yes how are you doing?" Cynder asked her.

"I'm doing fine but you know that" Georga sarcastically reminded her.

Cynder chuckled warmly at Georga's smart remark, glad to have her back again.

"So what do you think would be the best to do about Oxidus?" Cynder asked when Georga had settled down.

"Didn't you promise to do it?" Sparx brought in

"Well I don't know him and I need some info before I can do anything" Cynder explained to Sparx.

"Since when is it that he is acting so uptight?" Spyro asked Georga.

"It's been since 10 days ago" Georga answered.

"10 days ago! Does it have something to do with the seize of Warfang?" Cynder asked.

"He didn't tell me but I am sure of it" Georga said.

"Well then what happened?" Cynder asked.

"Well you see during that battle Oxidus lost his mother Fuoca" Georga closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"I see, that makes sense" Spyro said as he understood what losing a loved one felt like.

"But it doesn't explain why he is acting so fierce" Georga reminded him.

"At first he was understandably very sad about it but that disappeared after about 3 days." Georga explained "But he kept moping and he pretends to be overworked and he also is very aggressive towards many other dragons".

"That doesn't make sense, why would he do something like that?" Cynder asked puzzled.

"Well I have no idea but all I can guess it that something must be on his mind other than just the loss of his mother" Georga said a bit sad.

"How did he lose her?" Cynder asked then asked her.

"I don't know" Georga replied "I heard it from Igüsa and she didn't know any details about it either" Georga still sounded a bit sad.

"Well there is only one way to find out" Spyro stood up "Well will have to go and ask him ourselves"

"I don't think it's a good idea to confront him with it" Georga warned.

"Why not I doubt he can chase the likes of us out of the house" Cynder reminded her.

"No he can't, but you can't fight him here" Georga said "Oxidus is a strong and fierce dragon in battle. When you fought me Cynder you destroyed my room, I you would fight Oxidus you would destroy the entire neighbourhood".

Spyro gulped "Yes that's something that we can't allow to happen"

"But then what are we then supposed to do?" Cynder asked agitated.

"If we can't break that facade he build around himself then we will never get down to the truth!" She pointed out.

"Hey Georga" Spyro asked "What does Oxidus really like to do or where does he have pride in?" He asked very intrigued like he was thinking about something.

"He has a love for sparring matches. If there is one thing he is proud of then that is his battling skills".

"Yes maybe we could ask him to spar with Spyro and then it by a miracle he tells us everything we need to know" Sparx said mockingly.

"Yes I don't think that just a sparring match is enough to do something Spyro" Cynder allied with Sparx this time.

"I also wasn't thinking of just one sparring match" Spyro said while grinning "I was thinking about an entire fire breather's tournament".

"And how can you be sure he will enter or that it will even do us any good at all" Cynder asked sceptical

"Hey Georga what is Oxidus' goal. What does he really want to become" Spyro asked Georga not paying attention to Cynder's protests.

"He always wanted to become the new fire guardian. I remember him telling that it was his destiny to one day succeed Ignitus" Georga explained not understanding yet what Spyro was getting at.

"Well we organize a great fire breather's tournament and the winner will become the new fire guardian" Spyro declared.

"And you think the guardians will allow it!" Sparx asked rhetorically very loud.

"And what makes you think that it will solve something anyway" Cynder asked again.

"Well if you can come up with a better idea I am listening" Spyro said looking around.

After about one minute of silence Spyro concluded "Well then I guess we have work to do, organizing a tournament is no small task".

"But Spyro what about the guardians?" Cynder reminded him "If they don't want it then there is no way we can get it done"

"Well then we just have to make sure that they do like it" Spyro said simply "You know what they say Nothing adventurous no one get's blamed".

"I think you mean nothing ventured, nothing gained" Cynder corrected him while grinning.

"Well anyway I ought to get going" Georga stood up "I haven't been at my job the last 2 days so I can't be late today"

Georga walked towards her the door but stopped and turned towards Spyro and Cynder "I really hope you two can get this done and once again, thank you for all your help" she said kindly before flying out of the house and towards the day-care.

Spyro and Cynder said goodbye to Volt and took off back towards the citadel.

"And how do you think we will ask it?" Cynder asked Spyro a bit cynical, she didn't mention the guardians but she knew that wasn't necessary.

"Well I guess we just present it to them and await their response" Spyro replied.

"I think that if you do that your behinds will have something in common with Georga's" Sparx joked.

Spyro just ignored him and continued to fly towards the citadel with Cynder beside him.

They spotted Cyril at the entrance just leaving.

"Wait Cyril" Spyro shouted to the ice guardian before landing in front of him.

"What is it Spyro?" Cyril asked.

"There is something we wanted to propose to you all" Spyro said.

"And what might that be?" Cyril asked.

Sparx was about to open his mouth but Cynder pulled him towards her with her tail and held him firmly in her hind leg.

"I will tell you but do you really have to go somewhere now?" Spyro asked.

"No, I was just going to make a stroll around town, it's not important" Cyril said.

"Alright then help us find Volteer and Terrador" Spyro said before walking into the citadel not awaiting Cyril's response.

They found Terrador and Volteer in the library studying some books.

"Well you brought us out here now what do you want Spyro?" Terrador asked when they had gathered in the main hall.

"I was planning to organize a great fire breather's tournament in order to select the next fire guardian" Spyro proclaimed doing his best to make his voice as strong as possible.

"A tournament you say?" Volteer was very surprised.

"A tournament for the selection of a guardian? Something like that has never been done before"

"Well there is a first time for everything" Cynder said trying to support Spyro.

"But there is a major problem, the selection for a fire guardian won't happen for another 5 years" Cyril pointed out

"Well we can say that the winner of the tournament will become the primary candidate and that the other finalist becomes second choice" Spyro proposed.

"Well I guess that's possible but how did you come to this?" Terrador asked.

"Well I just thought it would be a great way to eliminate the hard and separation spirit of the war" Spyro said more serious now.

"Some kind of large event in which dragons from all branches and stands can participate".

"Since Ignitus his sacrifice-" Spyro shed a small tear before continuing "It seemed like the best thing to do".

"Also we have a friend that really needs an event like this" Spyro finished.

Spyro had done his best selling his idea to the guardians. Now all he could do was hope they liked it.

"I'm not sure" Cyril said "The position of a guardian isn't a game after all"

"That's true Cyril a guardians job is very complicated and should never been taken lightly" Volteer added.

Spyro felt his spirit sink down a bit lower.

"But Spyro what kind of tournament where you thinking about?" Terrador asked.

"Well a sparring match tournament of course" Spyro said as confident as he could although he didn't know what a sparring match actually was.

"As I have said before a guardians job isn't a game, and it's also not just about who has the most power. A guardian has to have many mental capabilities as well" Cyril said sceptically.

"Yes I to think a guardian purely judged on power has a very slight chance to be successful" Volteer said.

Spyro saw Cynder shaking her head towards him indicating that it she thought the case was lost.

"I think it is a great idea" Terrador said catching everyone by surprise.

"But Terrador do you really think some kind of rag muscle head can be a successful guardian!" Cyril exclaimed.

"I would think a dragon like you would know that true power also flows from the mind Cyril" Terrador looked sternly at his colleague

"But I do think that just the chance to become fire guardian cannot be the main price" Terrador said.

"Hey what do you think that the winner get's a fight with mister legend here" Sparx poked Spyro.

"I think that's a great idea little firefly" Terrador said.

"I'm not a firefly but a dragonfly" Sparx shouted angry.

"You can't just force Spyro to fight the post powerful fire dragon you can find!" Cyril accused Terrador.

"I'm not forcing him to fight anyone, we will let Spyro decide" Terrador said before turning to the purple dragon "Is this okay with you young dragon" he asked.

"It's fine actually I look forward to be able to fight a good opponent again" Spyro said excited.

"And so do I" Cynder said a bit indignant.

"Of course Cynder" Spyro assured her "It will be a match against either one of us at the champions choosing"

"And for a tournament there must also be a title for the champion" Cynder said getting excited about it herself now that she was also involved herself "Anyone have any ideas?"

"Mmmm" Terrador muttered "Maybe master of fire?" He suggested.

"I think Master of Eternal fire sounds a bit more catching" Spyro offered.

"Master of Eternal fire" Terrador repeated "I like the sound of that"

"Well that decides it, we are going to have a fire dragon's tournament" Terrador proclaimed.

After that they started to discuss the practical things about organizing it.

"I have more then enough money for this so funding the tournament isn't a concern" Cyril said.

"We will have to put considerably amount of effort in spreading the news because if we want something on this scale to succeed we need an exceptional attendance" Volteer said.

"Good point there Volteer. Just how are we going to spread the news to every dragon in the city?" Terrador asked nobody in particular.

"I think we can take care of that" Cynder said "If we use our fame I'm sure we can make every dragon in Warfang aware of it. Then if you use you connections I'm sure we can make a humongous crowd to appear."

"By the way what is this tournament going to be called anyway?" Cynder then asked looking at Spyro.

"Let's call it the Igus Fire Cup" Spyro said having thought about it. "It is in Ignitus his honour".

"That's sounds very nice Spyro" Cyril complimented him "No long words and easy to remember".

When whey had discussed more they drew the conclusion that although it wouldn't be easy it was inside of their capabilities to organize.

After having discussed the subject for about an hour they decided to call it quits.

"We will take care of most of the material and organization" Terrador said to Spyro and Cynder.

"Your primary goal is to draw publicity for it" He instructed.

"Okay Terrador we will" Cynder answered before walking after Spyro who was already walking out of the room.

"So how do you think we are going to spread the news?" Cynder asked Spyro when they had settled down in their room.

"I guess just by getting into town and proclaiming it is our best bet" Spyro said.

"Hey I remember a painter who lives next Georga" Cynder brought in "What if we ask him if he could make some kind of posters for us?"

"That's a good idea Cynder it will most certainly help to have something permanent" Spyro said to her.

"I think it is best that I go to the main square to proclaim it to the public and you go to the painter to get those posters" he suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea, let's say we meet back at the citadel before diner" Cynder said.

"Okay, then let's be off" Spyro started walking towards the aerial entrance but Cynder grabbed his tail with her mouth and pulled him back.

"Au, What is it?" He asked a bit annoyed after Cynder had released him.

"I couldn't let you leave without this" Cynder said seductive before giving Spyro a tender kiss on his snout.

"Did you really have to do that?" Sparx ask a bit disgusted.

Spyro wasn't really comfortable with it either but he still felt his heart jump inside his chest.


	9. Informing Warfang

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 9 Informing Warfang**

Georga was feeling quite happy with the turn of events. As luck would have it Zorgna had an important appointment the next day and was very desperate for Georga to take her shift that day. Georga had managed to strike a deal that she would take Zorgna's shift tomorrow as well and that it would suffice for both days she missed.

After Georga had done her shift and Zorgna had taken over she decided to do some shopping to spend the afternoon. She decided to check out the history shop on the central square to see if they had anything nice since she knew she would have a full day of work tomorrow.

Spyro was flying towards the place where he actually normally always staid clear of: The busiest place in Warfang, the central square. Sparx had stayed behind in the citadel claiming he didn't want to get crushed by the inevitable mob.

When he almost reached the square he landed in a dark allay to think about what the best way was to tell the large crowd in the square. He decided that it would be best to fly up again and land as impressive as he could and then give his speech.

He spread his wings and took to the sky once again.

"Let's see where to speak" He looked around and spotted a low pure white building that really stood out from the rest of the structures.

"Perfect, now to land" Spyro stealthily flew towards the back of the building.

He then shot upwards and appeared in full view above the white building while roaring loud enough that it seemed everyone in Warfang heard it.

"Look there it's Spyro!" many moles and dragons turned to see the purple dragon in full view spreading his wings, making large flaps and landing slowly on the white structure.

"Inhabitants of Warfang!" Spyro tried to put as much force behind his voice as he could.

"I'm sure you have all known the loss of our dear fire guardian Ignitus" Spyro gulped and tried not to get soft.

"But now in Ignitus his honour we are holding a great event" Spyro fell silent and the crowd had all there eyes fixed on him.

"In a few days there will be a tournament held in this city" Spyro proclaimed.

"Every fire dragon can enter and participate in this great spectacle"

"Also everyone in this city and beyond is free to come and watch the greatest fire matches of all time"

"This is unprecedented in the history of the dragon race, the mightiest fire dragons are now all gathered in this city and in a few days we are going to find out just who is the most powerful fire dragon on this planet"

"Your place in the tournament will be used as the list for the fire guardian candidates in the selection that takes place 5 years after this"

"So if you always wanted to become a guardian this could be the only chance you will ever have"

"The winner of the tournament will gain the title of master of eternal fire. He or she will be the number one candidate for the fire guardian appointment. And there is a third price to top all that! The winner also gets a full on battle yours truly or the past Terror of skies herself in front of all the citizens" It felt like a knife stab in Spyro's heart to call Cynder the Terror of the skies again but he swallowed it and continued.

"Fire dragons! This is a chance that will certainly never come again!"

"The name of this unprecedented tournament will be the Igus Fire Cup" Spyro spread his wings and breathed a tower of fire into the air when creaming out the name of the tournament.

The crowd remained completely stunned for about ten seconds giving Spyro a very uneasy feeling in his stomach as he was getting even more nervous as with the guardians.

Seconds later however the crowd erupted into cheers for the purple dragon.

"Long live Ignitus!", "I will be the master of eternal fire!", "That match with Spyro is mine" all kinds of shouts come out of the crazy crowd of dragons and moles on the central square.

Many dragons took to the skies and flew towards Spyro.

Spyro tried to get away but was soon surrounded by a few dozen dragons.

"Where is the tournament going to be held?", "Are you and Cynder mates?", "Can I shake you paw?" Spyro had the feeling he was going to be squashed and desperately looked for a way out. He then spotted a small dragon paw waving for him to come this way. Having little other choice he scrambled towards the mysterious dragon hoping it was not just another fan.

The dragon pulled him out of the crowd and together they jumped off the building.

The dragon started running and Spyro followed close behind.

The dragon stopped inside a street with many similar shaped houses.

"I think we're save now Spyro" It was only then that Spyro realized that the dragon standing in front of him was Georga.

"Georga what are you doing here?" He asked her.

"Saving you what else does it look like" She said as if he asked a rhetorical question.

"Thanks Georga I own you one" Spyro sighed grateful.

"No you I owned you for organizing that tournament so we're even" Georga said laughing.

"Who's there?" a voice sounded from one of the houses.

Spyro thought fast and quickly raced inside a dark allay he spotted.

"Georga! It's good to see you" Spyro looked from his allay as it seemed the new person knew Georga

He was very surprised by what he saw, in front of Georga stood a pink dragoness of about his age. She had a set of horns that looked a little like his own but were a bit straighter. She had a unique heart shaped tail appendix and also had purple ridge of spikes with membranes on her head and on her tail. She was of a relatively heavy build when compared to Georga. Spyro also spotted a golden necklace with a heart shaped ruby inside of it.

Spyro had never seen a pink dragon before and he never thought it was even possible. Her heart shaped tail appendix was yet another thing he has never seen before. He had to admit that the new dragoness looked very pretty.

"Ember? What are you doing here?" Georga asked very surprised.

"Well maybe I live here? This is my house after all" Ember said a bit annoyed at the stupid question.

"It's good to see you again Ember, have you heard that speech just now?" Georga asked her.

"Yes I think the half of Warfang heard it so it wasn't very hard to follow" Ember replied.

"That Spyro can count on it that I am going to enter, I always wanted to spar with him one day and the position of fire guardian is something I have dreamt of."

"I know that you have told me like a hundred times" Georga teased.

"Well it only shows how much it was true" Ember shot back laughing

"Hey Ember I would like to introduce you to someone but you have to keep it down" Georga told her.

"Okay then I will" Ember said very surprised by the demand.

"It's okay! You can come out now" Georga shouted indicating for Spyro to reveal himself.

Spyro walked out of the dark allay and walked towards Georga and Ember.

"Is that really-!" Ember gasped

"Yes it is me the purple dragon Spyro" Spyro said getting used to the whole routine.

"It is a great honour to meet you" Ember lowered her head in respect just like so many had done before her.

"That's not necessary Ember" Spyro said as the thing repeated itself again and again each time he and Cynder met a new dragon.

"My name is Ember" Ember said still a bit awed.

"It's nice to meet you Ember" Spyro walked up to her and politely shook her paw.

Ember cheeks flushed a bit and she looked still very awed at meeting and now even touching the legendary Spyro.

"Ember! Who are you talking to?" a new voice sounded from the house behind Ember

"Come outside mom! You wouldn't believe who is standing here!" Ember shouted back excited.

After a few seconds a large fire dragoness appeared out of the door.

She had crimson red scales, large orange wings, long dark red back spikes and a large flat tail appendix. She was however quite thick and didn't look as charming as Ember did.

"Is that!" The dragoness gasped.

"Yes It's my Spyro the purple dragon" Spyro did his best not to sound as annoyed as he really felt.

"It's an-" The dragoness began but Spyro cut her off "It's nice to meet you"

"My name is Wilmfe" The dragoness told him.

"Ignitus always talked a lot about you" Wilmfe said while looking down on him.

"You knew Ignitus!" Spyro was very surprised.

"I sure did, he often came to visit me and Ember and he provided comfort for us when my life mate passed" Wilmfe said with a sad voice.

"That sounds really like him" Spyro said also a bit sad, however it sounded to him like there seemed to be something else inside of the voice of the dragoness then just sadness.

"Mom! Could you please not bring that up" Ember asked "It is not a fun memory for anyone here".

"Sorry I shouldn't have brought it up" Wilmfe said a bit in panic.

"Don't worry about it, its okay" Spyro assured her.

"But I really ought to get going now I still have work to do" He said before turning to fly away.

While he was flying back to the citadel he heard something and looked back to see that Georga was following him.

"Georga? Why are you coming along?" he asked her.

"Well I don't have much to do so I thought that maybe I could help you" Georga answered.

"Thanks some additional paws are welcome" Spyro smiled as Georga moved next to him.

"Why does Wilmfe's voice sound like there was something behind it" He thought as he flew toward the citadel.

"Ah, it must have just been my imagination" he dismissed it and looked back towards the citadel that appeared in the distance.

Meanwhile Cynder was flying towards the painter for the posters.

She flew very high and tried to attract as less attention as she could. The great remorse about them had settled but they could still get mobbed if they weren't careful.

She reached the painters office after just a few minutes of flying.

The painter's office unremarkable light brown building that was no different from the rest of the street. Above the door hang a sign "Panten's painters post; posters, portents and other parts" Cynder shucked a little as she read the name

Cynder walked in and heard a bell ringing. She looked up to see the door had a small mechanism that rang a bell if it the door was opened.

The painter's office was the same colour as the outside of the building. There were some paintings and paint supplies piled up in the corners. There was only one curtain in the room and no other entrances except the door. There was a small counter for customers on the other side of the shop.

Cynder drew a face as a very strong and very unpleasant smell of Tempero painters oil overwhelmed her olfactory (the nose of a dragon is about 10 times as sensitive as a human's).

"A customer!" An excited voice sounded from behind the curtain.

Seconds later a very excited mole came running through the curtain and stopped in front of Cynder who looked a bit surprised.

He was very small even for a mole and he also was covered with paint stains.

"Hi my name is Panten and-" He stopped as he recognised who the dragoness was.

"Hey you're that famous black dragoness Cynder!" he shouted as he recognised her.

"Um yes that's me" Cynder said a bit unsure.

"It's such an honour to meet you" Panten excitedly shook her paw.

"Well I was wondering if I could order some posters here" Cynder said a bit indignant by the lack of formality of the mole.

"All right then" Panten instantly regained his posture "Let's get this done, Will you follow me?" He walked through the curtain again with Cynder close behind.

The smell of the Tempero oil was even stronger here and Cynder wished this visit to be as short as possible.

The room was very messy with many half finished paintings and jars of paint littered around.

"Let's move this for a moment" Panten took a painting he was working on a put it down somewhere on the floor.

He then picked a roll out of the stacks and opened it on the floor this time.

"Now for what kind of poster were you thinking about" he asked Cynder.

"Well it is for a fire battle tournament so something flashy I guess" Cynder said

"A fire battle tournament" Panten repeated muttering.

"What kind of size should the posters be and how many do you want?" Panten then asked.

"We were planning to spread them around the entire city so I guess they shouldn't be too large and they also-" Cynder said but she didn't get a chance to finish.

"Around entire Warfang you say!" Panten shouted.

"Well yes that was the idea" Cynder took a step back from the loud mole.

"How long do I have to finish it?" Panten then asked and Cynder now understood the problem.

"To be honest I think you have just a few days" Cynder admitted knowing that was not the answer that Panten was hoping for.

"There is no way that I can make more then about 50 posters in just a few days" Panten said.

"Are there any other painters you know who could help you with it?" Cynder suggested.

"No there aren't any other painters who would make something like this. How many creatures need to know about this?" He sounded a little bit scared.

"Well actually every single dragon and mole in Warfang needs to know" Cynder said knowing it again was the answer that Panten didn't want to hear from her.

"Are you saying that it can't be done?" Cynder asked now sounding a little bit scared herself.

"Well no, it's just not possible to make enough poster's for everyone" Panten said

"That's too bad" Cynder said disappointed.

"But even 50 posters can make a lot of difference if you use them properly" Panten with a pretended cheerfulness.

Cynder didn't know if he was trying to cheer her up or if he was just trying to keep his customer "Well I guess that's what we will do" She said after a short break.

"Now on to the posters" Panten turned and looked towards the sheet that lay on the floor.

"What's the tournament called?"

"It's called the Igus Fire Cup" Cynder said emphasizing the name "It is held in honour of Ignitus" She then added proudly, however because of that she had gasped through her nose and had problems retaining her static face.

"Are there any prices to win or is it just for fun" Panten then asked.

"It's held mostly for fun and the main reason is to cheer up the citizens of Warfang" Cynder told him proudly "However when the new fire guardians are going to be chosen over five years the guardians will use the position list from the tournament to select the candidates" She said.

"So it's about becoming a fire guardian" Panten said in thought.

"That you're candidate doesn't guarantee you will become guardian" Cynder reminded him.

"The winner will also gain the title master of eternal fire" Cynder continued without waiting for a response.

"So there is no actual price to gain is that it?" the Panten concluded.

"Well the winner will also be granted a one on one sparring match with me or Spyro" Cynder said.

"But still there are no real prices to win" Panten concluded again.

"That's right" Cynder replied feeling that Panten had a point about the prices.

"Are really planning to summon almost entire Warfang?" He then asked again just to be sure.

"Well that was the idea" Cynder said "We want it to become a huge event that was and will properly be unprecedented" She said with a grand voice.

"That will not be easy but I will do what I can" Panten said.

"I think you should return tomorrow morning, then I will have made then first ones and you can tell me if you like any of them" He told her.

"Sound good I will" Cynder was already starting to walk away desperately to get away from the foul smell.

"Till tomorrow then Blacky" Panton shouted to her.

"What did he just call me!" Cynder shouted but she kept her jaws tightly closed so Panten wouldn't hear it.

After they had reached the citadel Spyro and Georga looked around to see if they could find the guardians anywhere.

They finally spotted Terrador speaking with some moles on the end of the main hall.

"Yes that place will do fine but how are we going to get all those people inside" Terrador said to the mole.

"I think that isn't a problem Terrador, the entrances are more then large enough" The mole replied.

"Um Terrador" Georga said a bit weak.

"What?" Terrador turned and spotted them in the hall "Ow Spyro, and Georga too what is the matter?" He then asked.

"Nothing but I finished the speech so I was wondering what I should do next" Spyro said.

"I think the best thing you can do is searching out other young dragons and spread the news through them directly." Terrador instructed.

"I think Georga will be happy to assist you with that, isn't that right?" He said while looking down at her.

"Of course" Georga answered very sweet like it was a unnecessary question.

"Good!" Terrador turned back towards the mole "Now how are we going to get-"

Spyro and Georga left Terrador to his own devices and went to search out some young dragons.

"Well now I have to go through the whole honour thing again" Spyro complained as he remembered that every dragon they met bowed to them including the one he was talking to.

"Hey enjoy it while it last" Georga said cheerful "After some time it will stop"

"I know and I look so forward to that" he replied.

"But how are we going to search out a large number of dragons?" Spyro then asked "I can't just go into and out of building at random"

"Let me think" Georga turned her head a bit.

"Ah! I think Frost could help us with that" She declared after a few moments.

"Frost? Why him?" Spyro asked, he remembered Frost from his tail ball game.

"He knows every 13 year aged dragon in Warfang and also knows all their parents or foster parents in addition to any brother siblings they might have" Georga explained a bit awed.

"I also asked him to gather the dragon that participated in that tail ball game for yours" she added.

"He sounds perfect, let's go" Spyro nodded before spreading his wings and flying towards the exit.

"Blacky! I barely know the gay and he gives me a pet name" Cynder grumbled muttering as she walked back towards the citadel.

Cynder was deep in thought and therefore wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings when she spread her wings and flapped them to fly back towards the citadel.

"Hey look out!" A voice shouted but Cynder didn't hear it in time and flew into a dragon that was standing in front of her. The dragon was knocked on his back and Cynder fell down on top him. Cynder quickly jumped back from the dragon and looked at him.

"Are you okay?" Cynder asked him.

"Urrg man what was that?" The dragon exclaimed as he struggled to his feet clearly disoriented.

He was a bright red fire dragon of her age. He had a very rough front chest made of sharp and large bright yellow scales. His wings, horns, tail appendix and back spikes were all the same bright yellow colour. His horns were straight and poked out very much, he had back spikes running all the way down and his upper ones had small membranes, his tail appendix was a round and ringed dart. He looked like a good strong dragon because of his clearly tough hide and muscular build. He reminded Cynder of Spyro because his wings were almost identical except colour and he was of a similar size, build and had a very similar face as well.

"I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention and crashed into you" Cynder said while lowering her head a bit in shame.

"That's okay you di-" The dragon gasped as he regained his vision and recognised the dragoness in front of him.

"Are you Cynder!" He shouted very excited.

"Um, well yes I am" Cynder stepped back a bit, feeling uneasy by the excited dragon.

He ran up to her and shook her paw wildly "It's always been a dream of mine to meet you" He said still very loud and excited, luckily there were no other people around so Cynder didn't get a mob.

"Um" Cynder drew her paw back feeling that her leg began to hurt.

"Did I offend you!" The dragon asked still very loud and jumped back a good full meter.

"Um no, no, no you didn't" Cynder stammered a bit unsure what to say to the highly excited dragon.

"I'm sorry but it's just so-so-so" The dragon hyperventilated as he didn't know anymore what to feel or say and totally blocked.

Cynder patiently waited for him to get things sorted out, she also thought that his antics looked very amusing to watch.

After getting things sorted out in his head he took a more formal stance "My name is Flame and It's such an honour to meet you" He bowed like all dragons did.

"Well you already know that my name is Cynder" She replied waving for him to raise is head back up which Flame did very quickly.

"Have you heard about the Igus cup?" Cynder asked Flame.

"N-N-No-No I haven't" Flame stuttered.

"It's a great fire dragon's tournament that is held in a few days and-" Cynder explained the tournament to the fire dragon.

"So the winner get's a one on one fight with Spyro or with you!" Flame repeated while still shouting.

"Well yes" Cynder said taking another step back from him "Could you try to keep your voice down a bit please" she asked politely.

"I'm sorry" The dragon panicked and jumped back while flapping his wings wildly and uncoordinated.

"Don't worry about it" Cynder chuckled as she tried not to laugh at him but his silly antics were quite funny.

"But are you going to enter the Igus cup?" Cynder asked again.

Flame lowered his head to avoid eye contact "Well I think that something like that is just way out of my league" He said very unsure "There is no way a dragon like me can even get past the first round".

Cynder walked up to him and lifted his head with her wing to stare him straight in the eye "Don't worry Flame I'm sure you will be great" She kindly said but also honestly as his body clearly told her he must a very strong dragon.

"Ow…um…well" Flame stammered. Cynder thought she saw him blushing but against his bright red scales that was hard to see.

"Well I really ought to get going now" Cynder said as she saw that Flame was completely out of words once more.

She was about to take of when she heard Flame's voice behind her "I w-will enter the Igus cup" He sounded quite weak.

"I look forward to it and maybe I will face you in the arena at the end" with that Cynder flew off back towards the citadel leaving Flame to replay the events that just unfolded.

Georga knocked on the door of Frost's house. Frost lived in the high parts of Warfang very close to the citadel. He was the son of one of the highest standing dragon in Warfang only surpassed by the guardians. Therefore his house was very large and made out of bright yellow stones unlike the dirty yellow brown stones that made up the rest of the city. One other thing that stood out was the very large round door.

After a few minutes a dragon that Spyro recognised as Frost appeared in front of them. He was a relatively small ice dragon but with a very sturdy body. He had aqua blue scales and orange wings. He had 2 spiralled horns sprouting from the sides of his head pointing upwards, he was small but he did look like a very tough dragon.

"Georga and Spyro too, what brings you here?" He asked them.

"We wondered if you could help us with something Frost" Georga said to him "Would like to do that?".

"Come inside and tell me what it is" He sidestepped and politely weaved with his wing for Georga and Spyro to enter the house.

The inside of Frost's house looked quite nice. Unlike the other houses Spyro has been to, this one had more then just one floor. In the hallway there was a staircase with a very high sealing to allow dragons to fly up and down as well, the inside walls were covered with white bricks in order to cover to large yellow blocks of the outside walls. The curtains were made of a black silk like material and seemed almost to weave from the gentle gust created by Frost opening the door. When Spyro entered the living chamber he looked very surprised. It didn't look like the ones of Oxidus and Georga at all. This chamber was well furnished with many tables and stuff around. There were 4 couches made of real and very thick leather to resist the sharp dragon claws. The room was easily three times the size of Georga's living room, just like with the other ones however there was a fireplace in the centre of the room. The room was littered with toys and other stuff and there were also book cases and other stuff standing around. But the thing that really caught his eye was a large pendulum clock standing in the corner of the room positioned so that it was very visible for visitors. (Clockworks are extremely hard to build and could only be created by the most skilled of craftsman and it took then about three months just to build a single one. Therefore only the most richest of dragons can afford one. If you possessed a real mechanical clock it is a symbol of outstanding wealth in Warfang.)

"He lives cosy" Spyro thought to himself as he looked at all the stuff laying around in the room and by the sight of the clock. "Although they could clean up a bit in here".

"Spyro don't look so awed" Georga whispered while she gave him a poke in his side with her wingtip.

"Sorry Cy-" Spyro shut his jaw just before saying the name. It felt a bit awkward for him to have Georga by his side and correcting him instead of Cynder.

"Don't worry many dragons get that when they first enter my house" Frost assured her smiling as the thing was familiar to him. "Now would you like to lie down" He gestured towards the leather couches in the room.

Spyro and Georga jumped up on the couches and laid down on their knees, they sank down into the leather until they lay on their bellies what felled very comfortable. "He certainly has a lot of money" Spyro thought again.

"Do you want something?" he asked them.

"I would like a Taviboah please" Georga said.

"Also one for me please" Spyro said a bit struck by ordering Frost when they were quests.

Frost walked towards a drawer and put his claw into a loop in order to open it. He then picked out one of the teal fruits with his mouth and put it in front of Georga before turning back to pick one for Spyro and finally one for himself.

He then jumped up on one of the couches and twitched a bit to make himself comfortable.

When they all had settled down Frost turned to Georga "Now what do you want me to do?".

"Have you heard the speech Spyro gave about an hour ago?" Georga asked him.

"No I didn't, what was it about then?" Frost asked.

"Well it was about-" Georga started but Spyro stopped her.

"I think that I am the best one to explain it to him" he said to her.

"Okay then Spyro" Georga said.

Then Spyro explained the tournament that was going to be held.

"I see but why do you need my help then" Frost was getting excited but he tried to hide it.

"Well the guardians ordered us to get every fire dragon in Warfang to show up and Georga believed that you were the person to make that happen" Spyro said while looking at Georga when he mentioned her name.

"So I need to make sure that as many dragons appear as possible is that it?" Frost concluded.

"Yes that's it exactly" Georga stated before taking a bite in her Taviboah.

"Yeah just like that tail ball game a few days back" Frost said a bit annoyed.

"Um" Georga was a thrown off by the comment.

"I will try Georga but I can't make any promises" Frost said a bit unsure.

"I know you could make entire Warfang show up if you cared" Georga shot back.

"I can't fool you Georga" Frost sighed while smirking "I will do my best but I do want something in return since I can't participate" he added a bit more serious.

"And what would you request of her?" Spyro asked with an overly intrigued voice.

"Let's say that if you can make a large crowd appear we make you a special quest and you can get first seat" Georga offered, thinking fast.

"Okay but then I want really first seat and with that I mean next to Spyro and Cynder themselves" Frost said.

"Well I see what I can do" Spyro thought it was a good offer.

"Well that is that then" Georga said before taking the last bit of her Taviboah, Spyro and Frost had already devoured theirs long before.

They spent some time talking about how to do it but suddenly Spyro interrupted the conversation "Wow look at the time" he said as he spotted the time on the clock "I must be back at the citadel before half past 5".

He got up and walked toward the door and Georga quickly followed "Goodbye Frost" he shouted back.

"Bye Frost, I really hope you can get this done" Georga added.

"I hope so to Georga because if I get special seats I want to look at something good" He said a bit arrogant.

Spyro didn't know what to think of it so he just let it pass and flew back towards the citadel with Georga close behind.

Since Frost lived close to the citadel they reached it in about a minute and Spyro spotted Cynder waiting by the entrance.

After he landed Cynder walked up to them "Georga I didn't expect to see you" Cynder said a bit surprised while totally ignoring Spyro.

"Though luck dude" Spyro heard Sparx whispering.

"Yeah after I saved Spyro from his fans I just though that I could give him a paw" Georga said.

"So what did you two do?" Cynder asked a bit intrigued.

"Hey let's skip the stories for diner okay, I'm starving?" Sparx suggested.

"Good idea now let's get something to eat" Spyro said feeling quite hungry as well despite the Taviboah.

"Hey Georga you want to join us?" Cynder then asked her.

"I would love to" Georga chirped "But I will have to ask Volt first so I will join you guys later" she said before flying off back towards her house.

Spyro and Cynder walked into the kitchen where they spotted Volteer, Cyril and Terrador waiting for them.

"There you two are" Cyril said a bit annoyed "It took you like forever to show up"

"Sorry about that" Spyro apologised but hiding a smirk "It just took longer then expected".

"Fine let's just order something" Terrador was also annoyed for having to wait for them for so long.

"No let's not do that just yet" Cynder said.

"Why not my dear?" Volteer said very dry.

"We wait for Georga to return" Cynder said in the same dry tone.

"She is going to come have diner with us?" Terrador asked.

"Yeah is that okay?" Cynder asked as she had totally forgotten that the guardians needed to approve it as well.

"That's okay I was just surprised that she even wanted our food" Terrador said.

This really got Cynder intrigued "In Georga case that makes sense since Volt is an outstanding cook but how could Terrador know that?" She thought to herself as the earth guardian repeatedly seemed to know an awful lot about Georga.

"Cynder, something wrong?" Spyro asked her as she looked deep in thought.

"It's nothing Spyro just thinking" She replied.

After just a few minutes Georga walked smiling into the kitchen.

"Finally she has arrived" Cyril said very relieved.

"Huh why are you so happy with that" Georga asked very curious.

"He's just annoyed because he couldn't gorge himself until now" Sparx said with a slight smirk.

"I can understand" Georga grinned.

Cyril looked a bit mad but he let the insult go by since he didn't want to look like a bad host.

Georga walked up towards the counter with Spyro and Cynder lining up behind her "I would like a sheep with some chilli spices please" She ordered.

"I want three Hijaupollo's and a quarter of sheep" Cynder then ordered.

"I would like 19 Hollada news" Spyro ordered.

"You are going to eat those salted haringen" Cynder asked after they had settled down and the guardians were placing their orders.

"Yeah I just figured that something different could also be nice" he smirked as he repeated the sentence Cynder had said in the morning.

Georga tilted her head a bit confused but didn't ask them what was going on.

After about 20 minutes they all got their meal and Cyril was the first one to start eating.

"Well he seems eager" Georga said referring to the fact that Cyril started eating the second he got the chance.

"Well he did wait for over an hour" Sparx reminded her having been with the guardians for the entire day.

Georga started eating on her spiced sheep and really enjoyed it.

Cynder's three Hijaupollo's looked like rough white orbs with a diameter of about 45 centimetres they also were a vague green tone and they had blue tipped leafs and some random red stripes. The Hijaupollo's had a slightly bitter taste but Cynder still liked it very much.

Spyro's meal consisted of a large bowl filled with salt and in it laid 19 fishes each of about 20 centimetres in length. Spyro had eaten them before during his loot of the kitchen and Frost had taught him how to eat them.

He clenched one between the fingers of his front paw, threw his head back as far as possible and put the fish into his mouth and swallowed it almost without any chewing. It had a soft creamy taste and the salt added a flavour but didn't overcast the strong taste of the raw fish.

Cynder drew a face and shoved her dish a few centimetres away from him "Do you really have to eat like that?" She complained.

"Yes you are supposed to eat Hollada new's this way, I learned it from Frost" He said to her.

Cynder swallowed a bite from her Hijaupollo before speaking "Who's Frost?"

"He is one of Georga friends" Spyro said while taking a new haring between his fingers. "Turns out she asked him to organize my tailball game while she focused on your beauty farm" He said before tilting his head backwards again and swallowing another fish.

"Whe wethnt toe hem tom aska if hes coeld helpe" Georga said while having her mouth full of sheep meat.

"What did you say?" Cynder asked feeling a bit uneasy with Spyro gorging his fish and Georga talking with her mouth full.

Georga swallowed her large piece sheep full making a disgusting swallowing noise and then letting out a loud burp "We went to him to ask him if he could help" She repeated.

"Help with what?" Cynder asked moving closer back to Spyro, appalled by how fitly Georga was eating.

"He has very good connections and is very skilled with speech so he is the perfect one to make a crowd appear" Georga explained to her before ripping of another piece of sheep.

"I see and Spyro how well went that speech of yours?" she asked turning back to Spyro.

"I think rather well Cynder" Spyro said turning to look at her. "They really looked awed after I finished and then they rushed like crazy fans" Spyro said a bit ominous about the second part.

"And then it was you who pulled him out am I correct?" Cynder turned back again towards Georga who had spice and blood all around her snout.

"Yes that's right and the escape was almost perfect" Georga said before returning to her sheep again.

"Almost?" Cynder asked before taking a small bite from her sheep.

"We did run into one dragon but it turned out to be a nice one" Spyro said after he finished shoving another fish down his throat.

"Who was he?" Cynder asked after having swallowed her piece of meat.

"It was a she" Spyro said turning to her "Her name is Ember and she is a pretty charming fire dragoness" he said.

Georga gasped but choked on her meat however she quickly forced it back out of her trachea making a disgusting gagging sound.

"Is that so?" Cynder said very dry.

"Of course you are still even more charming Cynder" Spyro hastily said looking at her angry face.

"Thank you Spyro" Cynder said without any emotion at all.

"Hey try one of these haringen they are awesome" Spyro put one of his haringen on Cynder dish desperate to get himself out of the situation.

"No thank you I don't want it" Cynder said while looking a bit disgusted.

"I ate one your Salhers and I didn't like it so now you will have to try a thing of me" Spyro insisted while drawing a smirk.

"Go on Cynder it is only fair" Georga said getting amused by the situation herself though not really understanding what Spyro had just said.

"Okay then I will" Cynder snapped but just as she was about to take a bite out of the fish Spyro gave her a stab in the back with his tail.

"Ouf what is it" Cynder shot her head back to him feeling a pain in her back.

"That's not the way to eat a Hollada new Cynder" Spyro said with a suggestive look.

"Do I really have to?" Cynder asked almost in a whimper, her voice shooting upwards.

"Yes you have to Cynder" Georga said stern.

Cynder gagged at the idea but with Spyro and Georga looking at her that way she felt like they didn't leave her much choice.

"Cynder! Cynder!" Sparx shouted like cheering for a tailball match.

Sighing defeated Cynder took the haring in her front paw and threw her head backwards before she shove the raw salted fish inside and swallowed it without chewing just like she had seen Spyro do.

She shivered a bit tasting the salty, butter like and strong taste of the highly salted fish in her mouth. "And he likes this thing" She almost couldn't believe it.

Spyro started clapping with his paws and Georga quickly did as well laughing loudly as Cynder felt the blood rushing to her head.

"Well now you now both how it feels and tastes to eat a bad fish" Spyro said grinning.

With that the three young dragons laughed heartily and then they returned to their meal.

"And how did the posters went Cynder" Spyro asked her.

"Well unlike you I didn't have much luck" Cynder said a bit disappointed.

"It looks like we will just have about 50 of them in all" She told Spyro.

"Just 50! That's not very much for the entire city" Georga then said.

"Well then we just have to trust Frost that he can spread the news and we still can put up posters at strategic spots" Spyro said reassuring her.

"That's true I'm sure it will be fine" Cynder felt a bit more at ease with it now.

"Did you run into anyone Cynder?" Spyro said because he smelled that she had a strange scent on her although it was hard to make out because of another even stronger scent on her.

"Well I um" Cynder stammered a bit "I flew into one" She said after sorting things out.

"Who and how did you fly into him?" Spyro asked intrigued.

"Well I wasn't really paying attention when I got back from the painter and I took off without looking" She said a bit embarrassed.

"And then you crashed into a dragon that was standing right in front of you" Georga finished for her while she grinned at the idea.

"Well yes that's about it" Cynder admitted "He was very nice though, although he was very jumpy and very loud".

"Jumpy? Loud? What was his element?" Georga asked her intrigued.

"Well I guess fire since he was bright red" Cynder answered wondering why Georga asked it.

"Let me guess, his name was Flame" Georga filled in for herself.

"Yes that's right" Cynder was very surprised "Do you know him?".

"Yeah I do, I used to play with him sometimes but since he moved to another part of the city we haven't seen each other so often anymore" Georga said before picking up the last leg bone that still wasn't bare and ripping the last meat off of it.

"I think he was like all over you am I right?" she said having a small piece of sheep in her mouth.

"Yeah it almost looked like he was going into shock about me" Cynder grinned "But wait a second!" Something occurred to Cynder "If he lives in another part of the city why did I meet him in the same lane as your house is?"

"Don't know" Georga raised her shoulders "Maybe he wanted to come to the painter to"

"It doesn't really matter anyway" Spyro said "But Cynder did you ask him if he would participate?"

"Yes I did and although a bit reluctant at first he said he was going to enter"

"Sounds like he hasn't changed at all" Georga said while gnawing on her sheep bone.

"He is pretty strong but he lacks the confidence to be a successful fighter".

"Well we will see if there is something we can do about that" Spyro said while gulping down his last haring.

"We will see" Cynder now took her last bite as well.

"Well you guys seemed to have had a very fun diner" Terrador said after they had put their dishes back on the counter.

"Yeah with Georga it's always fun" Spyro said while smiling at her.

"I'm glad to hear that" Terrador sounded pretty satisfied causing Cynder to slightly tilt her head.

"Could I also sleep over again" Georga asked as she now had Spyro's attention.

"Um well" Spyro looked at Cynder and then at Terrador.

Terrador smiled and nodded in agreement and Cynder did the same.

"Well that's that I am going to sleep here tonight" Georga said.

"Don't you have to tell Volt?" Cynder asked.

"No I already asked him if I could sleep over and he agreed" Georga explained.

"Hey Georga let's go to our room to play" Spyro offered her.

"Okay I will" and the three dragons walked towards Spyro's and Cynder's room.

"Why did you want to sleep over anyway?" Spyro asked Georga as the climbed the stairs towards their room Cynder was walking in front of them.

"Well because of my fight with Cynder my room lies in ruins so I slept with Volt last night" She explained but then she drew a sneer "Can you believe that he snores even louder then he is big!" She said laughing.

"Well I can imagine it with his build" Spyro chuckled.

"Hey! He does everything for you Georga so take it down a bit" Cynder scolded back at them.

"Don't be so uptight Cynder" Georga said jaunty "Can't you take a joke?"

"About these things the answer is no" Cynder said dead serious catching Georga by surprise.

"Cynder never has had any thing like parents and she really envies everyone that does" Spyro whispered to Georga.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that" Georga whispered back while lowered her head.

After the dragons had reached the top of the stairs they walked towards the large closet to pick out the quest mattress and then they carried it to their room.

"I'm sorry about that joke Cynder" Georga said softly.

"Don't mention it" Cynder said cheerfully "It wasn't about me and I shouldn't have reacted so fierce".

"But still I didn't know you-" Georga started but she was interrupted.

"Let's not get to mood down the drain!" Spyro said a bit stern "We came here to play and not to mope" Sparx looked pretty surprised at Spyro taking over his job.

"That's right Spyro" Cynder said joyful.

"Hey I have this one to" Georga was picking up a blue spinning device.

"Okay try to get it over here then" Spyro jumped to the other side of the room.

Georga put the toy between her talons and made a snapping movement sending it spinning around wildly.

"Let me try it" Spyro picked up the top and walked back to his spot.

He made a rapid movement with his paw and the top flew through the air and smacked against Cynder's head.

"Auw" Cynder shouted while rubbing the spot with her wing.

"I'm sorry Cynder does it hurt somewhere?" Spyro walked up to her.

"It um, doesn't really hurt but I well would like you to heal it" She said seducing.

"Huh? Heal it? I'm no healer dragon" Spyro said very confused.

"She wants you to give a kiss on it genius" Georga whispered scenically to him.

"What! She wants! Um" Spyro stammered while Cynder and Georga were watching him.

Spyro felt very uneasy and his blush was very visible for everyone.

He looked at Cynder and she put on a very sad face like she was going to cry. Under that pressure he finally gave in.

Spyro walked up to her and gently planted a small kiss on the spot were he had just hit her.

Cynder giggled and Spyro moved away, very embarrassed. Georga and Sparx laughed heartily at the scene.

"Now you can stand here and I will spin it back and forth" Cynder said while she still giggled.

Cynder and Spyro traded places and now Cynder tried to pass the top to Georga but she didn't have much luck with it either.

After having played with some other toys and talked a bit they decided it was time for bed.

Georga laid down on her mattress, Sparx got to the toy the dragons allowed him to keep and Spyro and Cynder laid down on their pile of straw.

"Good night you two" Georga said as she closed her eyes.

"Good night Georga" Cynder and Spyro said after each other.

Spyro laid down on his side with his back towards Cynder. Spyro couldn't make himself comfortable so he twitched and then he turned around towards Cynder.

He gasped but swallowed it as he saw that Cynder lay just a few centimetres from his face and on her face was a smile that seemed to come from the depths of her heart.

"Good night my love" She whispered as she cuddled up to him, moving her head just below his neck.

Spyro felt very uneasy but something kept him from moving. He just settled for it and fell asleep feeling the black dragoness her warm breath tickle his scales and feeling the warm energy of her body radiating on his.


	10. Preparations

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 10 Preparations**

"I just can't believe it"

"This is how it is just accept it"

"No they aren't like that"

"They are there is hard proof"

"That proof doesn't mean a thing"

"How can you continuo to deny it"

"Because that worthless text doesn't say anything about them"

"They have done this once they can do it again"

"No they are just like us and I will only believe it if I have experienced otherwise"

"So be it then"

Cynder slowly opened her eyes as her tiredness was expired.

"This one was different from the other ones. One voice was familiar but the other one was completely foreign".

"These things have never added up and it looks like they are not going to start".

Cynder looked back and the sight of Spyro sleeping next to her filled her with peace. She however resisted the urge to cuddle up to him again. She carefully got to her feet and snuck out of the room.

When she was out and gently closed the door behind her she stretched her body and let her joints pop then she shook herself to loosen her joints.

"Well I may just as well go for a stroll around the city again" Cynder thought as she walked down the stairs".

When she was in the ground floor she looked and luckily saw no one around. Then she walked out the front gates, spread her wings and took to the sky.

She flew a bit around the city enjoying the morning landscape.

"If only Spyro woke up as early as I always do" She thought as she imaged herself that she was taking this stroll together with him.

She flew back towards the citadel but didn't enter it. Instead she flew all the way up towards the top and posted herself on the highest pinnacle of the city.

Cynder calmed her mind and prepared for it.

Suddenly she jumped off the pinnacle and headed down towards the ground. She resisted the urge to spread her wings and instead folded them slightly to increase her speed and keep herself straight.

When she was nearing the ground she repositioned her right wing in order to send her into a spin. She positioned her tail in a slight bend and when almost hit the hard street she gave a mighty flap with her wings and spun upwards at an astronomical speed. She spun high in the sky before stretching her body and returning to a normal position in the sky "It's nice to work out sometimes" She said to herself as the thought that she had not lost her touch in flying skills made her feel satisfied. "The war maybe over but Spyro and I can't get soft".

After having flown around the city some more Cynder decided that it was time to head back home.

However as she was flying back towards the citadel her eye was suddenly drawn towards a flashy light in one of the suburbs close to the central square.

"Who could be making such ruckus at this time of the day" She thought as she flew towards the light to investigate what it was.

The light appeared again and Cynder quickened her pace driven by curiosity to find out what was going on.

The light appeared from the back yard of one of the houses and Cynder looked down and spotted who was making the lights.

In the yard stood a dragoness and she appeared to be practicing fire breath.

Cynder lowered down to the house and gently landed in the yard but the dragoness didn't spot her as she was too absorbed in her exercise.

Cynder walked up towards the dragoness but the dragon still didn't see her.

Suddenly the dragoness spun her head and made a sort of fire whip that spun around her and, by chance hit Cynder right in the chest.

Cynder shrieked as the whip seemed to burn away her front scales. When she looked she saw that there was a clear stroke of burned black scales on her dark red chest.

"I'm so sorry" The dragoness rushed over to her "It wasn't on purpose".

Cynder had one of her paws over the burn wound to shield the pain a little.

"Hey you are-" The dragoness swallowed her words "Does it hurt" She asked.

"Its okay" Cynder moved her paw away "Just a small burn"

"I am so sorry that I hurt you" The dragoness said honest "It's an honour to meet you Cynder" she bowed both in shame and in respect.

"It's nice to meet you to" Cynder walked up to her and shook her paw.

"My name is-" The dragoness started. "What going on out there!" An agitated voice shouted from the house.

"Oh bunkers" the dragoness cursed "Please go before my mother sees you injured and I get punished big time" the dragoness said panicking.

"She looks a little like Georga" Cynder thought to herself as she watched the dragoness worry herself sick.

"Go!" The dragoness said a bit more demanding this time.

Cynder took of without saying anything and quickly flew back towards the citadel.

"That dragoness was a bit weird but she seemed kind" Cynder thought as she flew back home.

When Cynder had reached the citadel she flew up towards the upper floor and moved through the open window.

She flew over Spyro and landed as gently as she could in order not to wake him up.

"Have fun on your stroll?" a voice asked behind Cynder causing her to jump as she tried to sneak and the voice had broken her trance.

"Georga!" Cynder shouted in surprise.

"Urg what is it now?" Cynder had accidently woken up Sparx.

"Huh what's going on?" Spyro asked as she had awoken him as well.

"Spyro! I'm sorry I just-" Cynder couldn't think of the right thing to say now.

"Was startled by my question" Georga finished for her.

"Do you guys have to let me jump awake every single morning or can I also wake up gently?" Sparx asked very annoyed.

"Jumping awake seems like the best way" Cynder said satisfied.

"Don't even think about it" Sparx said punitive.

With that they all laughed and forgave Cynder from interrupting their sleep.

"Well let's go out and see if there is anything fun to do" Georga suggested.

"But what about the guardians?" Cynder asked.

"They won't be up for at least two hours so don't worry about it" Spyro assured her.

With that the three dragons flew out of the window and Spyro and Cynder followed Georga who seemed to have a destination in her mind. Sparx stayed behind to sleep some more.

"Where are you taking us?" Cynder asked.

"To a place I want you to see" Georga replied vague.

"Like what?" Spyro asked a bit annoyed by her useless answer.

"You'll see" Georga said.

Seeing that Georga wasn't going to tell them anything Spyro decided just to let it go and wait for it to come.

They flew for quite some time and it was then that Spyro saw they were nearing the walls of the city.

"Are we there yet?" He asked Georga.

"No but it isn't far anymore" Georga answered as she flew over the wall.

"We are leaving Warfang" Spyro thought to himself as he realised that since they had arrived, they haven't left the city until now.

He quickly dismissed the uneasiness and followed Georga with Cynder by his side

"Here we are!" Georga declared.

Spyro looked down and saw that they had reached a small lake that was in the forest near Warfang.

"You took as all the way out here to look at some stupid lake!" Cynder yelled at her.

"No not to look but to swim" Georga said gleefully.

"But Cynder I do recommend you remove your rings first" Georga quickly added before anyone could say something.

"Um Georga I'm not so much fond of water" Cynder said a bit weak embarrassed by it.

"Come on Cynder remove those rings and jump in" Georga encouraged her.

"Just go ahead of me" Cynder said.

"Okay we will, but you better come" Georga said stern like she was her mother.

Spyro flew high into the morning sky before speeding down and diving full force into the lake.

The water was only about 12 C so it was quite cold but it did feel refreshing to have a cool dive after sleeping. (The scales and magical coat of a dragon protects them also against cold. For a human water of only 12 is freezing but for a dragon it just feels chilly)

He got back up towards the surface and moved his four limps in a grabbing like motion to stay afloat in the water.

He looked and saw that Georga had also gotten high into the morning sky and flew even higher then he had done.

She suddenly created an earth ball around herself, fell downwards and crashed into the lake with an enormous splash.

The splash covered Spyro and he was drawn underwater.

"You are going to pay for that one" He snarled playfully when Georga had resurfaced.

He dove his head down and splashed up some water in Georga face now.

Georga however also wasn't going to let it slide and used her wing to splash some water in Spyro's face.

The two had a water fight for about 5 minutes.

"Cynder!" Spyro looked around but didn't see her anywhere.

"Cynder?" he yelled again.

He turned towards the other dragon in the lake "Georga any idea were Cynder is?"

"She should be ready by-" Georga swallowed her sentence "I think she made a break for it" She concluded with a suggestive look towards Spyro.

"Don't worry I can track her down" Spyro shot up from the lake.

"And bring her back here" Georga said to herself.

"Phew that one was close" Cynder had dislodged her rings to fool them but instead of coming into the lake she was flying back towards Warfang.

"I will pick my rings up later but now I just need to get out of here".

Cynder didn't like water and she hated to swim so diving into a lake didn't seem very much fun to her.

"I hope they can forgive me" She then thought as she had misled her friends "But o well that's their problem"

All of a sudden there was a purple flash in front of her and Spyro appeared in front of her standing straight up in the sky revealing his full length with his front paws crossed in front of him and a very gruff look on his face.

"Oh hi there Spyro I just wanted" Cynder stammered like a weak little girl.

"You wanted?" Spyro raised an eyebrow.

"I just wanted to check up on Sparx" Cynder quickly thought up although she knew right away that is didn't make any sense

"I'm afraid that is not possible at the time Cynder" Spyro said in a grievous tone.

"Huh?" Cynder was very surprised at Spyro's voice.

"Because you are swimming in a lake!" he said while dashing towards her.

Cynder tried to move out of the way but Spyro grabbed her midsection with his front paws and dove down towards the ground.

When he had almost reached the ground he shot up and landed while dropping Cynder on the ground.

"What's the deal Spyro?" Cynder yelled when she had gotten up again.

"I am not going to let you off the hook that easy" He said ominous.

"I am still going to get you back for that stunt with that puritus flower" He got to his battle stand and looked like he was going to attack her.

He shot towards Cynder and Cynder tried to sidestep but Spyro just chanced his course slightly and it was futile.

He bit the end of her tail just before her blade and held it firm.

"Au! What are you?" She shouted as Spyro bit her tail and started to walk while dragging Cynder along on her back by her tail on the dirty forest floor like she was a prey he caught.

Cynder tried to fight back but from her position she couldn't reach him and could only squirm in vain while being dragged along on the forest floor, didn't hurt her but it was anything but comfortable.

She also felt it very humiliating to be hauled along by Spyro like she was a naughty little hatchling that needed to be taught a lesson.

After only a few seconds they cleared the trees and Georga appeared.

"I see you have caught something very nice" She chuckled as she looked at Cynder scrawling as Spyro carried her around.

"Want some help?" Georga offered and Spyro nodded since he couldn't speak with Cynder in his mouth.

"Huh what are you going to do to me?" Cynder asked frightened from her powerless position on her back and stuck between Spyro's mighty jaws.

Georga walked around Spyro and looked her straight in the face "You seriously didn't think we would allow you to get away now did you?" she said with an evil voice as she pulled Cynder on her back with her wings.

"I will count till 3 Spyro and then we will do it" Georga giggled and Spyro instantly got what she wanted and so did Cynder.

"1" Cynder felt Spyro tighten the grip he had on her tail "Please no" Cynder pleaded.

"2" Georga moved her wings upwards lifting Cynder slightly to the right "Please you guys I didn't really ditch you" Cynder now whimpered.

"3!" Spyro spun his head towards the lake and opened his mouth and Georga jumped up and slammed her wings into the same direction.

Spyro's slinging movement caused Cynder to be hurled towards the lake and because Georga had sent her into a diagonal spin she couldn't open her wings in time to fly away.

Cynder fell head first into the cold lake and instantly disappeared below the surface.

Cynder flapped her wings a bit uncontrolled since she wasn't used to swimming so it took her some time to get to the surface again.

She gasped for air and saw that Spyro and Georga were laying on their backs laughing at her clumsy swimming and the fun of throwing her into the water.

"Why those!" She cursed with her fangs clenched and her body tightening with anger.

She jumped out of the water and raced towards Spyro.

Spyro however just laughed and didn't move a wing.

When Cynder was about to hit him he sidestepped, grabbed her tail, swung her around and jumped so they both fell into the lake together.

Cynder once again struggled back to the surface where she saw that Spyro was waiting for her swimming effortlessly, Cynder however had to do her very best just to stay afloat.

"Spyro!" Cynder shouted while she flapped her wings and launched at him but he just dove down and dodged it.

He resurfaced behind her and pulled Cynder underwater yet again and just like last time Cynder flapped her wings to get to the surface again.

She was panting heavily from her fruitless ordeals to catch Spyro and from constantly being dragged underwater but she wouldn't give up.

She now used her wind element to create a wind/water spiral that headed towards Spyro.

Spyro got hit in his chest and was launched like 20 meters ahead into the lake.

Cynder looked satisfied and started to try and fly out of the lake again but she turned as she heard something.

She was stunned as she saw a brilliant blue flash of light and was frozen solid inside the lake.

Spyro quickly came and breathed a small stream of fire at the ice sculpture, melting it and releasing Cynder.

Cynder coughed as she fell down on the frozen lake.

Spyro had used a very large amount of power and the lake was now completely frozen solid from end to end.

"Going to try and get revenge on me my little prey?" Spyro asked bullying before turning around and wobbling his back side in front of Cynder and running away on the ice.

"He is going to pay big time for this" Cynder hissed said with her jaws closed.

Cynder was faster then Spyro so she caught up to him multiple times.

However every time she launched at him he dodged her and got away.

Finally she used her wings to send herself into a spin and knocked Spyro down on the cold ice.

The two had a fierce wrestling competition for about 5 minutes before Georga stepped in.

"Now, now that's enough for now you lovebirds" She said teasingly.

"We're not lovebirds" Spyro and Cynder both shouted in unison.

Having heard that they both said the same thing at the same time they looked at each other, blushed and quickly looked away again.

Georga laughed and walked back towards the chore with Spyro and Cynder following while looking in the opposite direction of each other.

Cynder picked up her rings and turned her back towards Spyro to avoid having to look at him.

Georga continued to laugh at the couple and she then opened her wings to fly back to Warfang and Spyro and Cynder followed her close behind still not looking at each other.

When they had reached the citadel they flew into their room with the window and were greeted by Sparx.

"What have you to done?" He asked as he noticed they were all wet.

"We went to a lake isn't that obvious" Cynder said very agitated that he brought it up.

"A lake? But I thought you hated water" Sparx said very surprised.

"I do" Cynder replied in a very dangerous tone.

Sparx didn't pursue it because judging from Cynder response he concluded that it wasn't a very healthy decision.

After they had gone off towards the kitchen Spyro and Cynder finally looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh warmly at each other's face.

"So was the swimming fun?" Spyro rhetorically asked Cynder.

"Never do that to me ever again!" She warned him.

"I will try but I can't make any promises" He said teasingly.

"I am not asking for promises" Cynder snapped.

"Um okay" Spyro said a bit off guard by Cynder's reply.

They walked into the kitchen where they spotted all three guardians eating their breakfast.

"Ah the young ones" Cyril said as he spotted them.

"Have you been swimming?" Terrador asked.

"Yeah and it was so much fun" Cynder said very sarcastically

"Yeah it was very much fun" Spyro said cheerfully before looking back at Cynder he shot a hateful look his way.

"Don't worry about them" Georga said as she saw Terrador's face getting confused.

"Cynder is just mad because Spyro threw her into the water" Georga chuckled again at the thought.

"Oh I see" Terrador didn't move but Georga saw that he too was suppressing a laugh.

The young dragons walked towards the counter to place their orders.

"A boar for me" Spyro ordered.

"A deer for me" Cynder ordered.

"A sheep for me" Georga then ordered.

"No special meals this time?" Sparx asked after ordering one Taviboah for himself.

"Nah those luxurious meals must be rare otherwise they aren't good anymore" Spyro said.

"True" Sparx said.

After a few minutes they got their meals and started gorging themselves.

While they were eating they spotted Terrador walking over to them.

"Once you three are finished we would like you to help organize the tournament.

"We will" Cynder replied.

After they had eaten their meal Georga stood up.

"I am going to visit Volt before going to work so I have to go now" She said a bit sorry.

"I almost didn't see him yesterday and I won't get a chance to talk with him today either so I am sure he wants to know what's I have done"

"I understand Georga you go and see him" Cynder said warmly.

"Thanks Cynder" Georga stood up and walked away.

After Georga had left the kitchen the dragons turned towards Terrador.

"So what do we have to do today?" Spyro asked.

"Well we have discussed the tournament and have come up with more details that the public needs to know" Terrador said knowing it was the same thing they had done yesterday.

"Like what?" Cynder asked.

"Practical things: When, Where, who. Those things" Terrador replied.

"So fills us in" Spyro asked a bit annoyed now "What have you decided"

"Well it is like this: the tournament is going to be held in 7 days at the citadel" Terrador explained "We estimate that about 100 fire dragons exist in Warfang right now so we need to get them all to show up". "We have also estimated that there will be a crowd of over 300 dragons and more then 3000 moles present in addition to many other creatures."

"Well we wanted something big didn't we?" Spyro interrupted.

"Yes we did but let me continuo" Terrador sounded a bit annoyed "We have to make enough sitting space for over 10.000 visitors and we also need food and water to keep them satisfied"

"10.000 visitors!" Sparx exclaimed "That's some public!"

"Yes it is but as I was saying" Terrador looked stern at the yellow dragonfly.

"That is something that doesn't come lightly so we need to redesign the entire citadel to account for it". He explained "All fire dragons need register to participate so we can make the necessary accommodations." He continued "The registration starts tomorrow morning and will last until the day before the tournament. We must make sure all available fire dragons have registered before then." He finished.

"Where do they need to register" Spyro asked.

"At the citadel, we will set up a counter" Terrador said.

"Whoa, whoawhoahwoawhoa just hold on a second there big gay" Sparx interrupted.

"Are all those 100 fire dragons going to cross this floor in the next week?" He asked.

"Well yes they are" Terrador said not really getting the problem.

"Won't we get a storm of fans" Sparx pointed out.

"Well-" Terrador felt a bit embarrassed "Good point there little firefly I didn't think about that"

"Dragonfly!" Sparx yelled "Not firefly"

"I trust that you can figure it out how to announce it" Terrador asked Spyro.

"You can, just like last time" Spyro assured him.

"I will try to think a way around the fans for you" Terrador assured them.

When the guardians had left the kitchen to go to work Spyro and Cynder started to speak about what to do next.

"Well I have to go to the painter again today to check up on those posters" Cynder said first.

"Well I don't think making another public speech is the right thing so got any ideas?" Spyro asked Cynder.

"Well Spyro actually I was wondering if you could come with me" Cynder said.

"With you? You mean to the painter?" Spyro asked.

"Yes we both have to agree after all" Cynder said while she blushed a bit.

"All right then we are both going to the painter" Spyro said he was a bit surprised by the request but since he couldn't think of something to do he decided to go along with it.

"And you are going to spread the news to random dragons you find" Cynder instructed Sparx.

"Hey you're not my boss" Sparx said angry

"No but I can still boss you around and if you know anything that's more useful now is the time to say it" She listened with joy to his silence.

"Well that's what you are going to do today" She ordered him again and Sparx sighed defeated before flying out of the kitchen.

"Now you are getting bossed around by a dragoness" Spyro whispered to him.

"Hey I'm just a small dragonfly, you are a mighty dragon" Sparx shot back before leaving.

Spyro dismissed it and flew together with Cynder towards the painter.

They stopped before the building that Cynder told Spyro was from the painter and she pointed towards the top of the door.

"Panten's painters post; posters, portents and other parts" Spyro chuckled as he read it.

"Yeah I know that there are a lot of P's in it" Cynder said as if she could read his mind.

"Is he really called Panten?" Spyro thought it was a redder weird name.

"Yes he is and he is quite an odd fellow" Cynder said before giving the door a push with her wing and walking in.

The bell rang as usual but Spyro didn't pay it much attention

"Wow he might clean up in here" Spyro whispered to Cynder as the strong smell of the painters oil caused him to shrink away a little.

"Don't mind it just breath through your mouth" She instructed him.

"Customers!" The voice of Panten sounded just like last time.

The mole came rushing through the curtain and stopped in front of Spyro and Cynder.

"Oh my, you are" He gasped as he spotted Spyro.

"Yes it's me Spyro the purple dragon" Spyro said superficial.

"Well I am Panten and I am sure that Blacky told you about me right" He winked at Cynder who shot an sour look back.

"Please follow I think I have got it down now" Panten walked through the curtain.

"Blacky?" Spyro asked Cynder as they followed Panten "Why does he call you Blacky?".

"I don't know it's just some kind of stupid name he thought up" Cynder snapped.

Spyro didn't pursue it because he didn't want to face Cynder's wrath.

"Man how did I get myself into this" Sparx complained as he flew aimlessly around the city.

"I know dragons are numerous in Warfang but with whom should I start?"

"That Cynder!" he cursed "She thinks she can boss everyone around" he grinded his teeth but then he signed "Spyro can't stand up to her and there is no way that I can so I can just as well settle for it" he grumbled

"Now if I were a fire dragon where would I go?" He said to himself as he scouted the city.

"Hey what's that?" Sparx spotted some flashes in the distance.

"A dragon? Maybe he is a good start" he flew towards the flashes that came from one of the suburbs of the city.

Spyro drew a face from the overwhelming smell of painter's oil inside the room.

"Yeah I know it smells bad" Cynder whispered.

"Well here is my favourite do you like it?" Panten put a poster of about 4 by 5, 5 metres in size.

On the poster were three large fire dragons. One breathed a stream of fire towards the reader and another one looked like he was there just seconds before. A third fire dragon was on the top surrounded by fire and had the name master of Eternal fire underneath him written in golden letters. The poster was decorated by yellow and red fire that surrounded everything but didn't cover any of the info and made everything really stand out

On the background was an image visible of Ignitus who looked with a face of satisfaction at the battle between the two dragons.

Written just under the third dragon in large white text stood: The Igus Fire Cup. Underneath the poster on the left side stood a small fire dragon surrounded by the other guardians and under it was: Win possible chance to become guardian! And on the right bottom was an image of Spyro and Cynder with the text: Win a full match with one of the legends. Under Spyro stood: the legendary purple one and under Cynder stood: The terror of the skies.

"So do you like it?" Panten asked excited.

"Well it's flashy alright" Cynder admitted at that was what she asked.

"But wait was quantity not the main problem?" Spyro asked the painter "Why have you made such a detailed and complex design?"

"This one is not for mass production" Panten explained "I will make only a few of these and the rest look like this-" He picked up another poster.

This one was much smaller only being about 40 by 50 centimetres in size.

It was much simpler mainly having only text: Igus Fire cup. Brightly in red letters in front. And the prizes were on the same spot as they were with the previous one but only the title of Master of Eternal fire was displayed on top and also the match with the heroes and the position as guardian were only in words. The only picture was hastily drawn picture of a strong looking fire dragon in the middle.

"That's more like it simple and practical" Cynder said satisfied.

"I can make about 50 of these and then 4 more of that other one" Panten said.

"Why do we need that complicated one anyway?" Cynder asked

"To hang on the most prominent spot I thought" Panten said.

"You dragons are pretty large so I thought to a large flashy poster on the most busiest spots would be a good move" Panten's voice now seemed a bit weaker "I hope you appreciate the liberty that I took" he asked them.

"Yes we appreciate it very much Panten" Spyro said warm.

"But do you also have other designs?" Cynder asked however "I just want to check them all out before making a decision"

Spyro rolled with his eyes "Dragonesses" he thought

Sparx was still going towards the mysterious lights he spotted.

"Oh my" He was a bit stunned as he saw a bright red dragoness practising some fire moves.

He slowly got down and was very wary not to get hit by the flames.

"Umm excuse me miss?" he said when he had gotten close to the dragoness.

"Huh what? Who there?" The dragoness looked around but didn't see anyone.

"There is some news you would like to hear" Sparx said.

"Who's out there? Show yourself!" The dragoness fiercely demanded.

"Um I am right here" Sparx said and the dragoness finally spotted him.

"Hey aren't you Sparx the sidekick of the legendary Spyro?" The dragoness asked.

"Well I too have done great things to you know!" He said annoyed at being called Spyro's sidekick.

"Sorry that I didn't see you but when you are coming in from the sun you are quite difficult to spot" The dragoness then said to him.

"Oh yeah" Sparx thought as he had forgotten that.

"What's your name?" Sparx asked although somehow he had the feeling he had seen the dragoness before somewhere.

"I am Inge but what are you doing in my yard?" Inge asked a bit surprised.

"Well Inge I'm sure you heard about the upcoming fire tournament?" He asked her rhetorically.

"Yeah I have heard about it but not many details were given" Inge replied.

"Well they have just been announced!" Sparx said like he was presenting it to her.

"Then tell it already" Inge said very impatient.

"Alright, Alright sheesh"

With that Sparx told Inge about the tournament.

"Oh so we can register tomorrow already" Inge said as he was finished.

"That's right are you planning to enter?" Sparx asked.

"Of course I am going to win that thing!" Inge growled and moved her head upwards before breathing a tower of flames into the air causing Sparx to quickly fly away in search of the next fire dragon to inform.

Back at the painters shop Spyro and Cynder were checking out the different designs for the posters.

"Well I think that we both agree that your favourite is indeed the best one" Spyro said to Cynder being a bit tired from all the checking and getting annoyed by the bad smell.

"Yeah I guess so" Cynder said while still sounding a bit unsure.

"However I want a different nickname" Cynder demanded quite sharply

"Okay I will see what I can do" Panten replied.

"I will make sure you get your money from the guardians" Spyro stepped in.

"Good now any idea how much time I have?" Panten asked.

"The tournament is in 7 days but the registration ends the day before that so that's about it" Spyro said.

"So I need to make them in the 6 days so you can all hang them up" Panten concluded.

"Yeah that's right" Spyro concluded glad that the mole was pretty fast to catch up.

"Let's say I come here every morning to pick up the next pile" Cynder offered.

"That's a good idea, at what time are you going to come?" Panten asked next.

"Is seven o'clock a problem?" Cynder suggested.

"Seven o'clock!" The mole shouted "Why so early in the morning?"

"I am always up early but let's say then I move it to eight o'clock now" Cynder offered.

"No way, my shop doesn't open until 9 o'clock and it is not going to become earlier!" Panten said stubborn.

"Alright then 9 o'clock I will come then" Cynder said annoyed by the discussion.

"Okay then on 9 o'clock" Panten settled for it.

"Well till tomorrow 9 o'clock then" Cynder had already started to walk out of the room.

"Goodbye Panten" Spyro said quickly before racing to catch up.

"See you tomorrow blacky!" Panten yelled back a Cynder who was most likely outside of hearing distance already.

Spyro and Cynder got back to the citadel where they stayed there for the remainder of the day.

Back inside the Citadel Terrador and the others were busy filling in lists and barking orders to moles.

"No that counter must stand over there" Terrador ordered as the mole put it on the wrong side of the room.

"Those benches need to be placed there and the other ones must be placed there" He pointed with his wings as he continued to instruct the moles into the positioning of all the stuff for the tournament.

Volteer was in his room filling in documents. Being the best one of the guardians when it came down to writing skills they had given him most of the paperwork.

"Bah, why did I follow that advanced writing course" Volteer grumbled as he looked at the tower of files that almost seemed to dwarf him.

"Now they have given me every single piece of paper they could think of" He knew that being angry about it wasn't going to get him anywhere so he got back to his job.

Cyril was busy going around and ordering everything they needed. Being the funder he was the one to make orders and also to make sure everything got to the right place so Terrador could position it with his assistants.

Luckily for him Volteer took care of most of the paperwork so he only needed to do the ones that specifically needed his signature.

The citadel was a hub of activity and it looked like it wouldn't chance for a long time to come.

Ember was getting ready for the tournament and she was totally pumped for it.

She had been practicing her secret weapon all day now and it looked like she finally got it down.

"One last time" she thought to herself.

She began collecting a huge amount of energy in her body.

She took a deep breath as the energy continued to amass within her body. However some fire started forming around her left hind paw and it started to lick at her claws.

Ember cringed a little "No, keep calm and focus!" She closed her eyes now and felt a soothing tranquillity in her heart and the flame around her left leg drew back inside her body.

"Now to activate it" Ember tightened her body and let her energy go out but made sure she always kept it on a short leash.

Ember's body was now full of fire energy that she slowly let out very controlled. She felt the enormous energy put pressure on the inside her body but she made sure that it only was released when she had it very good under control. She decided that now was the time to do it.

"Miss have you heard of!-" a cheerful voice suddenly sounded behind her.

This caused Ember to lose her concentration and the energy inside of her exploded and although the explosion was small it was more then loud enough to be heard 5 blocks away.

"Urg man that didn't went so well" Ember scrambled to her feet and inspected the garden to see if there was any damage. Because Ember had practiced with inner flames so often she wasn't injured herself.

"Oh no!" She spotted a small fire burning in her mother's flower place.

She quickly rushed over to it and stumped the fire out.

"This is going to hurt" Ember said to herself fearfully as she saw 8 of her mother's flowers in ashes.

"Ember!" An all too familiar female voice sounded from the house.

Ember gulped and the colour of her pink scales drained away as she watched the crimson red dragoness appeared from the back door and walked towards her.

"Well you see mom-" Ember strain merde while thinking of an excuse.

"Did you burn the flowers?" her mother asked very sharp.

"It wasn't on purpose I was distracted when I was practising" she whimpered hoping her mother would forgive her.

"You know what the consequences are if you do something like this, don't you?" The dragoness looked down very strict at her small pink daughter.

"Yes I do" Ember replied weakly as she remembered the last time all to well.

"Then come here young lady!" her mother sharply ordered her.

Ember lowered her head in submission and obediently walked over to the dragoness knowing what was to come.

The adult dragoness shove her tail under Ember and lifted Ember onto her back just above her hind legs, once there Ember grabbed her mother's back spikes with her front and back legs to gain grip and she also put her wings down around her mother.

Her mother crossed her wings over her and pressed her down a bit, preventing her from going anywhere but left Embers head and back side clear.

"30" Her mother said short and clear.

Ember closed her eyes and feeling a little bit scared she grabbed on to her mother's back spikes more firmly and waited for what she knew was to come.

Her mother raised her tail blade and hit it hard on the base of Ember's tail.

Ember didn't scream but just cringed as her mother brought her tail blade up again. She hit Ember again this time a bit lower on her back side on the beginning of her tail as well as harder.

Ember swallowed her scream but tears started to form in her eyes.

The third one was higher on Ember's rump and this time it was harder still.

This time Ember couldn't suppress it and screamed from the pain while still crying.

Her mother however didn't seem touched by it at all and although she could most certainly hear her daughter cry out from the pain she just ignored it and continued to spank her.

She brought her tail blade up yet again and hit Ember on her tail base with a very loud smack. Ember squealed as the feeling of the burning pain coursed through her body.

Wilmfe almost didn't seem Ember's mother anymore now but just wicked dragoness who was ruthlessly beating a defenceless little girl.

Ember cringed in even more s and tightened her grip on the spikes as the blows continued to rain down on her. This was most certainly not the first time that she was spanked by Wilmfe.

But she still hated it every single time. Her eyes shed even more tears as the blows on her tail base continued to send jolts of pain and sadness both through her body and through her soul.

Ember opened her eyes and allowed some tears to flow and drip down on her mother's crimson red scales. She looked back but her mother's wings blocked the view of her back side so she could never tell when the next blow was coming. She could however feel that her mother made sure that every next blow was even more painful then the one before it. She then looked at the back of her mothers head. When she was looking at her from this perspective she always had the feeling that she was on top of a monster instead of her mother. She hated it, she absolutely hated every single part of this painful but also very humiliating punishment. In these moments she sometimes even hated her own mother.

Wilmfe brought her tail blade up again and hit Ember hard on her rump once more.

By now Ember was sobbing and her tail base was a bright red.

Her mother swung her tail around in a circle in order to build up more speed and with an ear blowing smack she hit Ember on her hindquarter, extremely hard and extremely painful and Ember squealed with everything she had as tears were running down her pink cheeks.

Ember had been keeping count so she knew that was the final one and she cried as her mother retreated her wings and shove her tail under her again in order to put Ember back on the ground.

When she was on the ground again Ember didn't utter a single word but just looked down on the ground motionlessly while she continued to cry.

"You go and lay down in the naughty corner young lady so you can think about it!" Her mother ordered sharply "And if you come out before I come to get you we will do it all over again!" her mother said very threatening and almost hateful.

"'Sob' yes mom" Whimpered Ember with a hatchling like voice that was so high pitched from her sobbing and so weak that it was barely audible. Ember didn't raise her head back up and just meekly walked back inside the house. She knew the whole thing by heart and walked up towards the corner of the house that had the word 'NAUGHTY' written on the floor with bright red letters.

She had been in this naughty corner countless times before and the memories were always painful. Being in this naughty corner also felt very humiliating for a dragon of her age.

"It wasn't my fault" Ember thought, sobbing as she finally looked back at the red spot on her tail base. Her tail base stung very sharply and seemed even more hotter then her own fire breath. No matter how many times she was spanked it always hurt and her tail base always stung just as painful every single time. She then forced out the last of her tears from the spanking and laid down, waiting for her mother to return and scold at her.

"If only he was still here for me" Ember whispered to herself before shedding her last final tear.

"Oof that one was close"

Sparx had got the scare of his life when the dragoness he was about to inform blew up in front of him.

"That damm witch almost got my bum fried" he cursed at the thought of that dragoness.

"Well I think I have seen enough action for today so let's go back" He said to himself as he flew back towards the citadel.

"I wonder what happened to that dragoness through" She still thought out loud. "Ah I'm sure she is just fine and most likely enjoying her day".

"But if I see her again I will make sure she pays for it" he clenched his fist.

It was late in the afternoon and Igüsa was exhausted from her job. The work was harsh and not so well paid but she didn't have any other choice. She had to support her family together with Oxidus now. Although she was only 23 she had already adopted the role of mother for both Oxidus and Furno.

"Phew that was tough" Igüsa sighed as she entered her tiny house.

"Bad Iga?" Furno asked in his normal high pitched voice.

"No" Igüsa said warmly "Just a bit of hard work" She assured him.

"Is Oxidus home?" She asked the fire whelpling.

"Oxus is home" Furno replied "But busy" he added.

Igüsa knew that Oxidus wasn't as busy as he wanted to appear and that it most likely meant that he was pondering in the garden.

"I don't think I should bother him" Igüsa thought "He could really be busy and I will just ask him later".

Knowing it was already time for diner Igüsa walked to the place that functioned as a kitchen. She picked some meat out the drawer and cooked it with her fire breath.

After a few minutes the meat was already cooked "Oxidus!" Igüsa yelled "Diner!"

She spotted Oxidus coming from their small garden just as she expected.

Oxidus walked up to the boar and started ripping of pieces from it, he didn't say anything to Igüsa.

"So Oxidus?" Igüsa said after she chew away some meat strips "Done anything interesting today?".

"Nope" Oxidus replied a bit absent minded.

"Have you heard about that fire breather's tournament?" Igüsa asked him but she knew it was a rhetorical question since Oxidus his job is right at the central square.

"Yeah" Oxidus still didn't seem to pay much attention.

"So what do you think?" Igüsa asked doing her best not to get down by his emotionless response "Are you going to enter?"

"I don't know" Oxidus looked back at the garden.

"But you always wanted to become a fire guardian!" Igüsa raised her voice now.

"This is a golden opportunity Oxidus!" She said trying to get him excited.

"I just don't know it yet" Oxidus snapped.

Oxidus walked away from the boar only having eaten a few bites.

"I'm not hungry" Oxidus said without almost any emotion and walked out into the tiny garden to work on his lessons again.

"Ow Oxidus" Igüsa still remembered the times that Oxidus could play with Georga for hours and was totally happy and carefree.

Igüsa also missed her mother but now that Fouca was gone she had to take her place and care of Oxidus and even more for the little Furno.

"This isn't easy for any of us but just what is going on inside your head?" Igüsa thought to herself.

"Why can't you just accept it that she is gone?"

She shed a small tear but then brushed it aside so that Furno wouldn't see it.

"So Furno have a fun day?" She asked the whelpling.

"Geora did stupid drill today" Furno replied

"Don't talk about her like that!" Igüsa said very sharp.

"Yes Iga" Furno said scared while he shrunk back a little.

Igüsa wanted to comfort the little whelpling but she restrained herself "He needs to know I am the one in charge here now" she thought as she remembered Fuoca telling it to her after she had a harsh talk with Oxidus in which she made him cry and Igüsa confronted her with that later "He needs to know who is in charge" Fuoca's words echoed in her mind "Good parenting isn't always pretty Igüsa, when a whelpling does something bad he needs to know what he did and why that was wrong" Igüsa remembered her mother saying "You are the one that decide what is right and what is wrong, if you comfort them it was because you think that it is necessary and not because they demand it" That Igüsa was always fascinated by her mother and also all the questions she asked her about her parenting tactics and her maternal ways really was helping Igüsa now. Because although Igüsa was old enough since she was still virgin her maternal instincts weren't active yet so she couldn't rely on her own judgement and had to use what she had observed and learned from her mother.

"I wish she was still here with us" Igüsa was tough but she was not immune to sadness.

"I'm sure that she would have been able to break Oxidus his facade and get down to the core of the problem without a hitch" Igüsa thought "But somehow I just can't do it!" she grinned her teeth "No matter what I do, he won't talk" it was pretty frustrating for Igüsa to see Oxidus struggling and not being able to do anything about it.

"What's wrong Iga?" Furno high pitched voice asked as he saw her grinding her teeth in frustration.

"Nothing, just thinking" she took another bite from the boar but she was too deep in thought to even taste it.

After the boar was devoured and Furno started playing with his toys Igüsa walked to the garden to check up on Oxidus.

She found him sitting in middle the garden seemingly plunged in thought.

"Hey would you like to maybe go and visit Georga?" Igüsa asked him.

"Huh what?" Oxidus snapped out of his thoughts.

"You and Georga haven't seen each other in 6 days now so why don't you go and check up on her?" she asked but deep inside she knew how he would reply.

"No, not today, I'm too tired" Oxidus replied.

"Ow, that's too bad" Igüsa just couldn't think of something to push it further. She couldn't push Oxidus like she could push Furno, Oxidus was just too old and also too strong and aggressive for that.

Oxidus walked out of the garden and got to his pile of straw in the corner of the room.

He laid down and settled to sleep although it wasn't even close his bedtime yet.

However Igüsa knew Oxidus wasn't sleeping. She could tell it from his breathing.

"Why can't you just be honest against someone" she thought but she didn't get mad at it anymore since she knew it was pointless.

"Come on Furno it's time for bed" Igüsa instantly switched back to her maternal role.

"I don't wanna" Furno protested "I wanna play"

"Come on" Igüsa walked up to him and towered over the little fire dragon.

"It is time for bed" Igüsa didn't sound angry at all but she spoke very slowly and very clear so that Furno heard every tone very well.

"Yes Iga" Furno lowered his head and walked up to his pile of straw that was just besides the one of Oxidus.

"Good night, big bro" he said to Oxidus after he had laid down.

Igüsa thought she saw Oxidus give a reply but she couldn't say for sure.

With Furno asleep and Oxidus possibly asleep Igüsa couldn't leave the house.

"I really wanted to go visit Zerzelie again but it seems I can't" Igüsa thought to herself.

Having nothing else to do she just walked up to her own bed that she had made in the form of a nest and curled up to sleep next to her brothers.

It was still very early for her to go to bed but since she couldn't do anything else she just settled for it and closed her eyes.

Back to the citadel Spyro and Cynder were playing with their toys.

They started to make it into a routine to play with their toys before going to bed.

Spyro spun the top with his paw towards Cynder.

The top went a lot straighter now then yesterday and Cynder managed to stump on it in order to catch it.

Now she put it between her paws and tried to get it back to Spyro.

However with her the top went spinning through the air and almost hit Sparx who was flying nearby.

"Hey watch out with that thing!" he yelled.

"Sorry" Cynder said but it didn't seem honest at all.

"Cynder" Spyro said punitive.

Cynder signed "All right, sorry Sparx" she did seem honest now

"Thank you" Sparx said a bit cynical.

Cynder yawned now "Let's call it quits now" she suggested "I'm beat"

They got down to their usual evening day review.

"So Cynder" Spyro asked "Still mad because of that lake incident" he chuckled while saying it.

"Nah" Cynder assured him "I could never be mad at you for long" she said seducing and giggled as she saw Spyro cheeks turn a bit more red.

Spyro walked towards his bed without saying anything and gestured for Cynder to do the same.

Cynder couldn't decide if Spyro was just very tired or that he wanted to get away from the situation but she just dismissed it and walked to her place next to him.

Cynder laid down on her side and had her back towards Spyro as she felt him laying down behind her on his belly.

She moved her head backwards until she felt his body against her horns and rested her head on his neck

Although Spyro didn't like it at all but he allowed Cynder to use him as her pillow.

Cynder then used her wing to pull on of Spyro's wings over her body.

Spyro retreated it put Cynder pulled it over herself again and this time she purposely scratched it a little with the sharp edge of her wingtip.

Spyro didn't' retreat his wing this time and just it left it were Cynder had pulled it.

"Maybe we are lovebirds" Cynder thought as she used Spyro as both her cushion and her blanked now.

But feeling Spyro so close to her filled her mind and soul with so much happiness and warmth that she just couldn't resist pulling him closer. The feeling of his body going up and down from his breathing, feeling his powerful muscles against her head and the sound of his breathing so close to her sound receptors felt so much more soothing then the best beauty treatment in the world.

She closed her eyes and quickly fell into a happy sleep with her beloved purple dragon sleeping right besides her.


	11. Returning business

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 11 Returning business.**

"Pant, pant"

"That was fun"

"Watch out!"

-Dang!-

"Are you okay?"

"Urg, Okay enough for today"

"Hahaha, yeah I'm tired as well"

"Let's call it a day, okay you guys"

"Okay!"

Cynder was repeating her last voice dream during the early mornings.

"Now what could that one have been about?" she wondered while laying on her side and looking out of their large window. The morning sun was rising over the buildings, the yellow colour of the sun and the buildings made a majestic sight to see.

"This one was happy too" She thought "Are they oracles, glimpses of the past or maybe messages?" She tried to figure out just what those strange dreams could be about.

"They seem to appear at random and are about the most diverse of situation"

She stopped thinking about it because she understood that pondering about it never got her anywhere but it felt very frustrating that maybe someone was trying to reach her and she couldn't figure it out.

She turned her head towards Spyro and the sight of him instantly removed the pondering from her mind.

She had watched him sleep besides her countless times but it always calmed her and she could stare at him for hours.

She just couldn't resist it anymore and got closer so that she could also feel him. So that she could feel his breathing, feel his powerful muscles, feel his magical energy radiating from his body and to feel him together with her.

She fought against the urge to fall asleep when this close to him again in fear that she might scare him like she did a few days back.

When Cynder was so in the heavens she wasn't paying any attention to time and she could feel Spyro move after what seemed like a few minutes and she quickly got away from him.

"Morning Cynder" Spyro said surprisingly happily.

"Morning Spyro" Cynder replied copying his gleeful tone perfectly.

"You are sure in a good mood" Spyro noted.

"Well so are you" Cynder shot back.

"No, I don't want to mama" A voice mumbled.

Cynder and Spyro just smiled to each other as it was no mystery to them who it was.

They silently walked out of the room and closed the door behind them using their tails without waking him up.

"So what's on the list today?" Spyro asked when he thought they were out of hearing distance.

"Guess same thing as yesterday" Cynder shrugged.

"Yeah I guess" Spyro said sounding a bit bored.

"Hey if you want something you have to pay for it" Cynder said patting him on his back with her wing.

"True" Spyro replied.

Spyro and Cynder got down to the ground level and looked at each other like they were waiting for an idea.

"Let's just fly around a bit" Spyro offered.

"No, I want to go visit Igüsa" Cynder said.

"Igüsa? Why her all of a sudden" Spyro asked very puzzled.

"I still have my promise with Georga and Igüsa seemed to me like the best place to start getting some more information" Cynder explained.

"But don't you think they could still be asleep?" Spyro questioned as it was only half past six.

"Igüsa has an early job so I am sure she is awake" Cynder assured him.

"Well to Igüsa it is then" Spyro said wondering how Cynder knew about Igüsa's job.

"Let's say that I-" Cynder said drawing out the last tone "Race you to it" She then said playfully before storming out of the citadel and jumping just before spreading her wings shooting into the skies to fly as fast as she could.

"She not going to beat me" Spyro used his comet rush to build up speed and quickly was shooting through the skies towards Igüsa.

The two young dragons raced towards the low regions of Warfang and reached it in about 5 minutes.

"I am going to win" Cynder thought as she hadn't seen Spyro pass her.

Cynder glided down towards the street and rushed towards to door to make it official.

However just as she was about to touch the door a purple paw touched it before her.

"There you are" Spyro said cocky.

"Spyro but how? He never passed me!" Cynder thought out loud.

"I passed you very low and you didn't spot me" Spyro said with a large smirk on his face.

Cynder grinded her teeth at the thought she was defeated by Spyro in a contest of speed.

Spyro took the liberty this time and wanted to knock but Cynder stopped him by placing her wing in front of him.

"Let's just go in and see" Cynder said "If she and her brother's are asleep after all we won't wake them up"

"Good idea" Spyro nodded and silently pushed to door open.

Cynder and Spyro retreated their claws back inside their paws so they wouldn't make a tapping noise.

They snuck towards the living room and spotted the three beds on the floor.

However the only dragon that lay there was the little Furno. Both Igüsa and Oxidus were gone.

"What? Where are they?" Cynder whispered to Spyro trying not to alert anyone as they were technically breaking in.

All of a sudden a powerful jet of flame appeared and hit Cynder on the side, sending her flying though the air and smacking against the wall.

"Cynder!" Spyro exclaimed but before he even noticed it a fire dragon jumped on him. The dragon rammed him into the wall where Cynder had collided with just a second earlier causing her to sustain another hard blow.

Cynder squealed as Spyro and the other dragon slammed into her.

"Iga" A tiny voice sounded scared.

Cynder's fighting instincts now kicked in and she scanned her surroundings for anything that seemed like it was an enemy. She spotted something red that seemed to lash its claws at her and therefore was identified as an enemy. She blew a powerful typhoon at it and sent it flying away from her.

The dragon collided with a book shelf that fell down with him and he was getting hit by some of the books.

"What's going on in here?" A female voice sounded.

After only a second Igüsa appeared in the room and Cynder spotted Furno running over to her and hiding behind her front paw.

It was only then that Cynder realised that the dragon that attacked them was Oxidus.

"Oxidus!" Igüsa sounded very angry and punitive "What is happening?" She demanded fierce.

Cynder was very surprised; although she had only seen Igüsa a few times she had always seen her as sweet and benevolent. Seeing her this fierce and angry really blew a large hole in that image.

"They broke in" Oxidus shouted.

"They-" He then finally looked at them "Why have you broken in" He growled at them, clearly very angry.

"We only wanted to visit Igüsa" Cynder hissed back at him.

Oxidus snarled and gazed at Cynder before getting into his battle stance and flames started to appear in his mouth like he was charging up another attack. Cynder now did the same and hissed at him angrily.

"Oxidus!" Igüsa said stern and punitive.

Oxidus bit towards Cynder before closing his mouth. He grinded his teeth as he walked towards the garden and settled down still trembling with rage.

"I think we will take our leave now" Spyro said.

"No" Igüsa said.

"You wanted to visit me you say?" Igüsa sounded calm again as she bend down and nuzzled Furno to calm him.

"Well we had some things we wanted to ask but I am sure you have other matters to attend to" Cynder said looking at the damage: There was a large bulge in the wall she had crashed into and the bookshelf was separated from the wall also Cynder's wind attack had completely blown over all the stuff in the room and the house was a mess.

"No I have time left" Igüsa assured her when she had retreated her head.

"Okay then" Cynder still felt a bit unsure about it but accepted the offer.

"Are you injured Cynder?" Igüsa asked.

"Nah, it's nothing" Cynder replied as the small black spot was barely visible.

After the dragons had settled down in the messy room it was Igüsa who started the conversation.

"Now what did you want to talk about" She said friendly.

"I just wondered, have you heard about the Igus cup?" Cynder took the initiative.

"Yes I have and I also asked Oxidus but he said he didn't know it yet" Igüsa said looking sadly towards the garden where Oxidus was doing sentry-go.

"And are you going to enter?" Spyro then asked her.

"Oh I um didn't think about that yet" Igüsa said a bit surprised.

"Why not? You might have a shot at it" Spyro said.

"Okay then I will enter" Igüsa said satisfied.

"But this was actually about Oxidus" Cynder said trying to get the subject back.

"Have you heard about what happened with him and Georga 4 days ago?" Cynder asked putting on a more serious tone.

"No, to tell you the truth he didn't say anything about something like that" Igüsa said sounding a bit shocked.

"Well Georga came after she finished work and confronted him with how he was acting" Cynder told Igüsa. "Oxidus then burned her wings and shouted something at her that laid pretty sensitive with her" Cynder looked away to avoid eye contact.

"Oh, I see" Igüsa didn't know what to say.

"Does he also act so violent towards you?" Spyro asked.

"No, he does listen to me as you could see and he just mostly seems absent minded" Igüsa said. "However when I start about Fouca he starts getting pretty aggressive as well"

"Do you have any idea what this could be about?" Cynder asked.

"No, I wasn't there when my mother was killed and Oxidus refuses to say anything about it or what is going on inside his mind" Igüsa sounded very sad now and Cynder spotted a small tear in the corner of her eye.

"Igüsa" Spyro took the word again "We have a few plans ready but we need you to make sure that Oxidus enters the Igus cup" He said confident.

"Plans?" Cynder asked but she fell silent again.

"Can you make sure he enters and sees the entire thing through" Spyro asked Igüsa again.

"I will try my very best" Igüsa assured him but she didn't seem very confident.

"That's all you can do" Cynder said, she wanted to question Spyro about the 'plans' but she decided to do it later.

"Sorry but I really have to go now" Igüsa stood up "I can't be late"

"We understand we will clean up for you in here" Cynder said feeling a bit guilty for making the mess.

"No, I will make sure Oxidus does it" Igüsa sneered.

"No, It was us that broke in so it's our responsibility" Cynder insisted.

"Okay then" Igüsa said "Just stay away from Oxidus. I don't know what could happen if I am not there to stop him" Igüsa sounded a bit reluctant to leave.

"We will" Spyro said like Igüsa was his mother and had given him an order.

"Furno come here!" Igüsa ordered sweet but very clear.

The little dragon walked in front of her and just waited.

"Huh?" Spyro tilted his head "What are you going to do to him?" He asked.

"He can't fly yet and he is too young to walk all alone around the city so I have to bring him to the day-care before going to work." Igüsa said as she lowered her head and gently picked up Furno in her mouth.

In spite of being held between Igüsa's jaws Furno looked perfectly calm and still looked happy.

"How is she picking him up so gently?" Cynder thought as she was fascinated by how Igüsa could carry Furno in her jaws apparently without him feeling anything.

Igüsa weaved with her wing before spreading it together with her other wing and flying towards the day-care with Furno tightly in her mouth.

"Bye, Spy and Cyn" Furno shouted before they were out of hearing distance.

After Igüsa was out of sight Spyro and Cynder walked back inside the house and started to clean up.

"How do you think we are going to fix this?" Spyro asked when they turned their attention to the broken bookshelf.

"Hmmm" Cynder muttered "Wait I know!"

"I will use my poison element" Cynder said "It is very sticky and I am sure that it can do the trick".

"Sure? It does sound a bit dangerous to use a lethal poison as a glue" Spyro said.

"You may have a point there" Cynder admitted.

"Let's just leave this for Oxidus and focus and the other things" Spyro suggested.

"Okay we will leave the damage to the house for Oxidus to fix" Cynder said.

"That does make sense since he caused the structural damage and you caused the mess" Spyro said while drawing a smirk.

Cynder just let it slide and returned to pile up the different stuff in the room.

After about 20 minutes they were finished with all the mess inside the room.

"Let's just leave the rest to Oxidus" Cynder proclaimed.

"Okay let's go back towards the citadel" Spyro said before turning and walking towards the door.

Cynder followed him but she stopped and turned her head "Bye Oxidus" She said but when she didn't get a reply she just dismissed it and followed Spyro.

They flew back towards the citadel without saying anything to each other.

When they landed at the gates of the citadel they spotted Sparx flying towards them.

"There you are!" He said annoyed. "I have been looking all over for you two"

"What's the problem Sparx?" Spyro asked.

"The guardians want to speak with you two" Sparx said.

"Oh, no!" Cynder gasped.

"What's-what's wrong Cynder?" Spyro said a bit taken back by her sudden shout.

"I totally forgot that I need to go and pick up the posters" Cynder said a bit hasty and she flew off towards the shop of Panten without waiting for a response.

"Looks like they have to settle for just me" Spyro thought as he followed Sparx into the citadel.

He stepped into the main hall where the guardians were already waiting for him.

"Where is Cynder?" Terrador asked as he spotted Spyro alone.

"She had some other business to take care of" Spyro said "Is it also fine if I am alone or do you really need her present as well?".

"No it's fine you will just inform her later" Terrador said as Spyro walked up to him and sat down on his haunches to listen to what the guardians had to say.

"As you know the tournament will start soon" Terrador began "It will be ordered a bit like this" Terrador took a large sheet of paper that Cyril handed to him with his wings.

On that there was maze of blocks and lines that moved upwards.

"We don't know how many are going to participate but we can be that it will be over the number 64" Terrador began.

"The tournament will have two rounds, the preliminary rounds and the victory tournament" Terrador prepared his sentence before continuing "In the preliminary rounds the competitors will be spread between boxes. How many boxes there are and how many of each box are going to compete depends on the number of entries".

"What is the idea of those boxes?" Spyro interrupted.

"Inside a box, all competitors are going to fight against each other and for every victory they will gain a point. When they have all battled each other the dragons that have the most points will be included in the best 64 who will then progress to the victory tournament" Terrador explained to Spyro.

"So what's the victory tournament?" Spyro asked.

Terrador pointed his claws towards the poster he had laid in front of Spyro. "On the underside of the poster you can see that there are 64 boxes" Terrador said pointing at the boxes. "Those lines will indicate who will fight who and who will progress" Terrador said.

"I get it! It is a elimination race, the one that wins will be to fight the winner of the previous round next to him until only one is left" Spyro said.

"That's right" Terrador said. "And that one will be the master of eternal fire"

"Well this was the plan and we called you to ask if you thought it was a good one" Volteer said.

"I think it is good" Spyro was a bit surprised that the guardians asked for his approval.

"Good but what about Cynder?" Cyril brought in.

"I'm sure she thinks it's a good idea as well" Sparx said.

"When is the registering counter going to open?" Spyro asked now excited about the cup.

"Right now little one so why don't you go and give another speech" Terrador said encouraging.

Spyro now rushed out of the citadel to give another speech to the masses.

On the other side of town Cynder was already carrying the piles of posters on her back.

"How could I forget something so important?" She bit herself as she wondered how she was going to hang all those posters up without anything to do it with.

"Hey Cynder, having trouble?" Cynder turned to see Georga standing behind her.

"Yeah, I am just wondering how I am going to hang up all these things?" Cynder said a bit embarrassed.

"We still have some glue left in the house and I will be more then happy to help you" Georga said generous.

"Thank you Georga, I don't know what we would do without you" Cynder sighed as Georga came to her rescue.

Georga raced back into her house that stood only a few metres away. She quickly returned carrying a large bucked between her jaws and having a set of brushes into it.

"Sorry Cynder but I can't help you" Georga said after she had put down the bucked.

"I'm sorry that I said I would but I just forgot that I need to be at my job soon" Georga lowered her head in shame.

"Ow" Cynder was a bit disappointed that she had to do it alone now.

"But I know someone that does have the time and I'm sure that she will help you" Georga said gleefully before flying off.

Not knowing how long it was going to take Cynder picked up one of the brushes in her tail and started to apply the glue to the walls and then she got to her hind legs to try and put the poster on the wall.

"This is going to be tough" Cynder thought as the body of a dragon wasn't really suited for this kind of thing.

She continued to try and stick the poster to the wall for another 10 minutes but she just could stick it the right way.

"Um excuse me" Cynder turned as she heard a voice behind her.

Cynder was a bit surprised by what she saw. In the street stood a pink dragoness of about her age and size.

"Hallo there" Cynder replied in a kind tone

"Can I do something for you?" Cynder asked.

"Well to be honest" The dragoness sounded a little bit uncertain "Georga asked me to help you hang up those posters"

"Oh she did" Cynder said as she remembered that Georga had said that she would sent someone to help her.

"My name is Ember and it is an honour to meet you" Ember bowed like was normal for Cynder by now.

"Well you know that my name is Cynder" Cynder said, the praising wasn't necessary for her but it didn't bother her as much as it did Spyro.

After the pleasantries were over the two dragonesses got to work and flew around and hang a poster on every busy corner they found.

"Cynder give me one to stick it up there" Ember said when they wanted to stick a poster on another busy street.

Cynder gave her a poster that already had glue stuck to it and carefully handed it over to Ember.

Ember carefully took it in her paws and flew up to stick it on the side of a house in the middle of the street.

"Having Ember with me is really helpful" Cynder thought as she watched the pink dragoness gently apply the poster on the wall.

Cynder mostly handed Ember everything and applied the glue while Ember stuck them to the walls. Ember was somehow able to apply the posters fine while Cynder just couldn't get them straight without ripping them to pieces.

Ember glided down and looked at her "Let's go I know a place where many dragons stop before going to work" Ember turned and walked away with Cynder close behind.

It was then that Cynder noticed a vague red spot on the base of Ember's tail. "Is that a birthmark on your tailbase?" She bluntly asked her as Ember seemed very friendly.

"No, it isn't" Ember said sounding dark and superficial.

"Okay then" That the up until now always friendly dragoness put up such a tone was an indication for Cynder not to pursue the topic since it apparently laid very sensitive with Ember.

"Well that's about it for the simple ones" Cynder said as she only carried one more poster "Were do you think would be a good place for the big one?" She asked her pink companion.

"Maybe on the central square?" Ember suggested as they walked towards the unknown together.

"Sounds good. Let's go" Cynder had the last poster between her paws now, so she and Ember could fly towards the central square instead of having to walk to it.

When they almost had reached the central square they suddenly heard a powerful voice "The registration will end after only 5 days now and the tournament will be held the day after that" A very familiar voice shouted.

"I don't think going to work inside the central square is a good idea now" Cynder concluded raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah good point" Ember agreed.

"Let's just say that you leave the rest to me Cynder" Ember offered. "I will apply the poster after the crowd has settled and I will also return the buckets of glue and the brushes to Georga".

"Will you do that for me?" Cynder was a bit stunned that Ember was so generous to her after they had just met.

"Sure I don't have any other obligations" Ember said jaunty.

"Thank you Ember, you are a true friend." Cynder said warmly and nuzzling her side before silently taking off and stealthy hiding behind the building on which Spyro was giving his speech so that she could help him in case he got mobbed.

"That Ember is really a nice dragon" Cynder thought as Spyro continued with his speech "Ember? Ember? Somehow I have heard that name before" Cynder pondered as she tried to remember why it felt like she heard the name before somewhere.

"Oh yeah Spyro once mentioned her" Cynder thought out loud.

"That's how it is and I want all fire dragons to give it all they have!" Spyro shouted as he had finished his speech.

Not waiting for the crowd to rush up to him he quickly jumped of the building and started to run.

He rushed into the alley behind the building and looked around to see if anyone was there.

The allay dark and dirty but he didn't spot anyone.

"Are you the legendary Spyro?" A voice sounded excitably just besides him.

Spyro jumped up and turned his head while panting heavily both from fear and from surprise.

He didn't see anyone but somehow he could sense someone. The dark alley was so dirty that the bad odour overwhelmed his nostrils so he couldn't rely on his nose to detect who was with him in the alley.

"Are you that scared?" a voice sounded evilly just besides his sound receptors.

"Cynder what's the…" Spyro said the name on instinct when he heard the voice. "Cynder what are you doing here?" He asked forcefully now that he knew it was Cynder. Cynder's black scales were almost impossible to spot in the dark alley.

"Making sure I am here to save you" Cynder said laughingly.

"Well this isn't a good way to do that" Spyro shot back.

"Let's just go back" Cynder said while she grinned but made sure Spyro couldn't see it.

After that the two dragons sneaked back to the citadel as they had done many times before.

They couldn't use the front entrance since there were too many creatures so they used the back door and stealthily snuck towards their room without passing through the main hall.

"How did you hang up all those posters on your own?" Spyro asked when they were safely back inside their room.

"I didn't do it alone" Cynder shook her head "I had Ember to help me".

"Ember?" Spyro was a bit surprised but he also thought that it actually didn't really matter.

"Are you ready to call it a day already" Cynder asked Spyro as the day seemed finished but it was only half past three.

"No, I still have something else I want to do" Spyro said.

"And what's that?" Cynder asked.

"We still have one other news connection we still have to do" Spyro said vague.

"And which one is that" Cynder asked sounding a bit annoyed.

"Frost" Spyro said in one word.

"Oh yeah, you asked him to spread the news" Cynder said as she remember it now.

"And I am going too" A voice sounded.

Spyro and Cynder turned to see Sparx flying into their room.

"Of course Sparx" Spyro said warmly.

The two dragons flew out of their room using the aerial exit and flew towards Frost's house.

They quickly reached it and Cynder knocked on the door.

After a few minutes the round door opened and Spyro, Cynder and Sparx gasped and their eyes became as wide as saucers.

"Igüsa!" They all exclaimed.

"Oh it's you" Igüsa also sounded very surprised.

"What in the name of the ancestors are _you_ doing here?" Cynder asked.

"She is my maid of course" A male voice sounded behind Igüsa.

Spyro and Cynder looked to see Frost appearing besides Igüsa.

"Igüsa is your maid!" Sparx shouted in disbelief.

"I am" Igüsa said.

"Why don't you come inside and I will explain it" Frost weaved for them to enter.

Spyro and Cynder walked after Frost and jumped on the leather couches in the room Sparx landed between Cynder's horns.

"Wow, Frost is rich" Cynder thought as she observed the room that was filled with expensive items and works of very refined art.

"Wow nice place you got here rich-boy" Sparx said.

"Yeah I know" Frost replied.

"I think you want to know why I am here" Igüsa said as she appeared from the black curtain.

"I just could never image you to work as a maid for Frost" Spyro said still very surprised.

"I needed money to support Oxidus and Furno and this was the only thing that was available to me.

"Igüsa…" Cynder had a very hard time to believe that the Igüsa she looked up to so much was a maid to a teenaged dragon.

"Nice place and a hot maid. I think I am moving in with you instead." Sparx said.

Cynder growled and shot her head forwards causing Sparx to be hurled towards the wall. However he managed to stop before hitting the wall and flew over to Spyro now without saying anything.

"She is actually the maid of my father" Frost said "But he is often away".

"Yeah and I couldn't be happier with that" Igüsa said cynically.

"Um, Igüsa I think you better get started on the garden if you want to get it done before my father arrives" Frost said.

"Of course" Igüsa bowed and walked out of the house.

"Does she do the cleaning?" Spyro asked as the room looked very neat now.

"Yeah she cleans as well as many other chores" Frost said.

"Can't you do those chores yourself" Cynder snapped.

"Whoa, calm down there Cynder" Frost said moving a few centimetres back.

"She is the maid of my father and she does what my father asks of her" Frost reminded her.

Cynder still was feeling something against Frost but she knew that he had a point. However the knowledge that Igüsa worked as a maid for a rich ice dragon left an eerie feeling with in her stomach.

"I totally forgot to introduce myself" Frost said taking on a more formal tone. He jumped of the couch and walked towards Cynder "My name is Frost and is an honour to welcome you in my house my lady" he bowed while he picked up one of Cynder's paws and gave a small kiss on it.

"Oh" Cynder retreated her paw and blushed. "He surely knows etiquette" she thought as the small ice dragon greeted her like a real lady.

Spyro and Sparx made a blowing sound because they had to do their best not to laugh at it.

"So why are you here?" Frost asked when he had returned to his couch.

"We wanted to check up on how things are going with the news on your end" Cynder said.

"They are going fine" Frost assured her "Many dragons are aware of it and are looking for more details for it"

"That's good" Cynder said.

"And how is it with my honour seat?" Frost asked Spyro.

"Honour seat?" Cynder repeated looking at Spyro as well.

Spyro was a bit indecisive about who to answer first "That special first seat that I promised you as payment isn't ready yet but I'm sure that it won't be a problem" Spyro said hoping to answer both dragons at the same time.

"Oh so that's why you are doing it" Cynder said with a bit of an accusing tone in her voice.

"Hey it isn't such a great deal to ask" Frost tried to stay polite but sounded a mad now.

"But you still couldn't do it for free! Could you?" Cynder asked him.

"Now, now Cynder don't be like that" Spyro said.

"I promised him that he would gain a special seat if he would help us" Spyro explained.

Cynder wanted to reply but closed her mouth because she didn't want to offend Frost who acted like such a good host.

The dragons talked for some more time. Frost loved to talk and the three dragons quickly lost track of time.

When the clock rang 5 o'clock Frost suddenly jumped of the couch. "You two have to go now" He said calm but somewhere also in panic and his face showed hints of fear.

"Why so suddenly?" Cynder asked as he seemed to have had plenty of time before.

"My father will arrive soon and I'm sure you don't want to meet him when if sees you in here" Frost said a bit hastily.

"Come on Cynder" Spyro already started to walk out of the house.

Suddenly they spotted a large adult ice dragon that stood in the middle of the hall.

"What are you doing here?" He snapped at Spyro and Cynder.

"We were just about to leave" Sparx said sounding a bit scared.

The large ice dragon stomped and spread his wing in order to stop them.

"What are you doing in my house" The dragon demanded to know.

"We came to visit Frost since I asked a favour of him" Spyro said a bit offset by the gruff tone of the ice dragon.

"He accepted a favour from someone like you!" The ice dragon really sounded angry now. "Frost!" he shouted punitive.

"Yeah he accepted it like a proper dragon should" Cynder said very sharp, defending Frost's honour.

"Proper! Don't you know who I am" The ice dragon shot back.

"No, we don't know who you are, but don't you have any idea who we are" Cynder shot back now getting angry.

Suddenly Frost shot up in front of her. "Please stop this and just go" He pleaded.

Cynder hissed at the rude ice dragon but now Spyro also stepped in front of her and shook his head.

Cynder looked away from the ice dragon and followed Spyro outside without looking at Frost's father again.

"You are just going to let him have such an attitude towards you!" Cynder shouted to Spyro when they had existed the house.

"Frost told us to leave so that's what we do Cynder" Spyro looked serious now "We are guests here and we should take our leave when our host requests that of us".

Cynder still felt angry at Frost's father but just let it slide for now. "If I ever run into that guy again…" She thought angrily "I am going to ram some respect into him" She thought evilly and looked forward to the occasion.

"Hey try to learn how to control yourself there blacky" Sparx said.

Cynder hissed at him causing him to hide behind one of Spyro's horns

Spyro and Cynder flew back to the citadel with Sparx holding on to Spyro's horns. They saw that there were no more creatures at the front gates so they landed and walked into the large building.

The interiors had chanced: There were a lot of supplies stacked up in every corner of the room. There was a large counter in the middle of the room but it wasn't manned.

"Looks like the guardians have been busy" Spyro said as he saw the amount of piled up supplies.

"Yeah I guess we should go and get diner now" Cynder suggested as the smell of food was almost overwhelmingly inside the room.

The young dragons climbed over the supplies and got to the kitchen.

There they spotted the guardians eating there diner without them.

"There you are" Cyril said.

"Looks like you guys didn't miss us" Sparx said a bit indignant.

Terrador raised his wing to stop Cyril from giving an angry reply "We are sorry we started without you" He apologised.

"It's okay" Spyro assured the earth guardian.

After Spyro and Cynder placed their orders and gotten their food they ate together with the guardians.

After they had gorged themselves Spyro asked Cynder what to do next.

"You two just go and have some fun" Terrador said.

"Okay" Spyro and Cynder replied in unison.

They got to their room and played around with their toys until it was time for bed.

"How do you think today went?" Spyro asked in order to start their usual day review.

"I think it went quite well" Cynder said.

"You managed to inform a large crowd and I managed to hang up quite some posters" She said.

"Our meeting with rich-boy could have gone better though" Sparx said, perfectly joining in with the conversation.

"Yeah you might be right at that" Cynder admitted "I did get a little carried away by Frost's father".

"But don't think that I didn't agree with you about the attitude of him" Spyro said. "I too think that he was downright rude"

"Something that I think is weird is that such a bastard of a dragon has babe like Igüsa as a maid" Sparx said.

"Babe!" Cynder hissed looking very dangerous.

"I mean: how can such a rude dragon have such a nice dragoness as a maid" Sparx quickly repeated his reformed statement hoping that it would get him out of the situation.

"Yeah I was pretty shocked that Igüsa works as a maid for someone like that" Cynder said now sounding friendly again.

"She also said she didn't have much other choice" Spyro reminded her.

"Yeah that's true" Cynder said, however the thought that Igüsa took orders from that arrogant ice dragon still seemed to make her very angry.

"Also what do you think about that incident with Oxidus?" Spyro then asked her.

"I don't know what to think of it Spyro" Cynder replied.

"We were breaking in but he shouldn't have attacked us like that" She said.

"Oh yeah what plans did you have for Oxidus if Igüsa manages to make him enter the Igus cup.

"Actually I don't have a clue myself" Spyro said grinning while he shrugged.

"You lied to her?" Cynder shouted looking shocked.

"Cynder, if he doesn't enter the Igus cup then there is absolutely nothing we can do anyway" Spyro explained "I needed to assure Igüsa that we had everything covered"

"But still; you lied to her" Cynder snapped.

"Oxidus needs to enter the Igus cup and Igüsa is the only one that could make that happen" Spyro tried to explain it again "I needed to assure her that we could help him if he entered. If he doesn't enter then we don't have anything to build upon. We organised this tournament in the first place to lure him out of his shell and learn the reason behind his depression" Spyro explained.

Cynder looked down on the ground and before she walked to their bed and rested down without saying anything back at Spyro.

Spyro sighed and walked over to their bed and laid down besides Cynder.

"Good night you two" Sparx said while floating towards his toy bed.

"Good night Cynder" Spyro whispered to her.

"Good night Spyro" Cynder sounded a bit more warm now but still had a cold sharp edge.


	12. the participants

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the purple dragon**

**Chapter 12 the participants**

Two days had passed since their meeting of Frost's father and they had been very uneventful. Cynder had been putting up posters together with Ember and Spyro and Sparx had been spreading the news or helping the guardians.

The morning sun was rising from the hills and Cynder once again was taking a flight around the city in the early mornings.

It almost had become a routine for her since she always woke up long before Spyro did.

"Why can't I just stay asleep" She thought as she felt a bit lonely to be flying around all alone.

She didn't want to stay in her room because otherwise she might wake up Spyro like she had done before a bit too often.

Suddenly she spotted what looked like another dragon flying a few hundred meters away from her.

"Who could that be? And why would someone fly at this time of the day?" Cynder thought.

Then it struck her "I am flying at this time of the day as well" She thought laughing inside.

Cynder now wanted to see who the dragon was so she sped up her pace and tried to catch up with it.

Before long the mysterious dragon came into view. It looked like it was a male fire dragon of the same age as Cynder although he looked a whole lot bigger then she was.

"Hey, hallo there?" Cynder shouted when she thought she was inside the dragon' hearing distance.

"Huh?" The dragon turned his head.

"Mind if I fly with you?" Cynder asked.

Now that Cynder was close enough she was shocked that the dragon wasn't a male but that it was a female. She had an extremely coarse build for a dragoness and was also huge in size. She obviously had far more body volume than any other young dragon Cynder knew, she could see that the thick body was filled not with fat but only with muscle and bone. Her powerful muscles were very visible beneath her scales and the scales themselves also looked very tough. The dragoness had a dirty red colour with a brown belly and heavy orange wings. She had 2 thick horns that sprouted from her the top of her head and curled all the way around her head and stopped just before her lower jaw. It was clear that this dragoness was very strong and very tough.

"No I don't mind" the dragoness replied.

Now that Cynder knew that it was a female she was struck by how low and thundering the dragoness' voice was.

"My name is Flannery" The dragoness said.

"Nice to meet you Flannery, I'm Cynder" Cynder knew that introducing herself wasn't necessary since everyone in Warfang knew who she was.

"Why are you up so early" Flannery asked in her low voice.

"I guess I could ask you the same thing" Cynder shot back.

"I am always up early so mostly I do some morning exercises" Flannery explained.

"Well I too am always up early so we have something in common" Cynder replied as she flew a little bit closer to the dragoness now.

The two dragonesses made a turn so that they didn't leave the city before continuing their conversation.

"Heard about the Igus cup?" Cynder asked as she couldn't think of anything else to talk about.

"Yeah I have heard it" Flannery replied "And I am going to win it, no problem"

"Now, now, don't get ahead of yourself" Cynder said.

"There properly isn't a single dragon who can come even close to rivalling me" Flannery said boastful

"I will crush anyone who dares to stand in my way and I will do it with the greatest of ease"

"The entire city will chant the name of the great Flannery"

"So where do you live Flannery?" Cynder asked getting annoyed by her boasting.

"Right over there" Flannery pointed with her paw towards one of the many suburbs of the enormous city.

"Want to join at breakfast?" Flannery asked her very carefree.

"What? Breakfast? Um" Cynder had just met Flannery and she was already inviting her into her home.

"Yes or no?" Flannery sounded annoyed.

"Well okay but I want to say it to Spyro before" Cynder decided quickly, not having to time to think about it.

"I will wait for you and only you!" Flannery said almost cynically as she got lower to the ground and landed in one of the many yards of Warfang's suburbs

"Wow that went quickly" Cynder thought as she made a mental note of the location of the house before flying back towards the citadel.

When Cynder was approaching the citadel she decided against going through the aerial entrance and just go through the main entrance and walk to the top.

After she landed however she was greeted by Terrador.

"Terrador? Where are you going to?" Cynder asked in surprise as it was still quite early in the morning.

"Just have something to check up on" Terrador said as he spread his wings and took off before Cynder could ask anything more.

"Wonder where he is going" Cynder thought "Ah, it's none of my business"

Cynder walked up to the top of the tower and panted a little before entering her room.

"Hey Cynder, had another stroll?" Spyro asked gleefully.

"Ow Spyro" Cynder didn't expect him to be awake yet.

"So ready for breakfast" Spyro asked as he already got up and started walking towards the door.

"Um Spyro I am not going to have breakfast with you" Cynder admitted.

"Huh? Why not" Spyro tilted his head.

"I met a dragoness and she invited me to have breakfast had her place and she also said that only I could come" Cynder thought as the request actually seemed pretty rude.

"Okay have fun" Spyro said as he walked past her.

Cynder felt a bit hurt that Spyro didn't mind that she was absent during breakfast.

However she quickly dismissed it and took off from the aerial entrance in their room and flew towards the house of Flannery.

She reached Flannery's house in about 10 minutes of flying and landed in the street.

Flannery's house was a standard model and was pretty plain. However it was larger than Georga's. Just like the one of her it was made of dirty yellow stones like the rest of the city.

Cynder walked up towards the door and knocked on it with her talons.

After a few minutes the door opened and a large earth dragon appeared in the hallway. He was of a dark green colour with large horns and a very dark brown belly.

"What in the name of the ancestors" He exclaimed as he spotted the legendary Cynder standing in front of him.

"Um hi" Cynder said a bit weak.

"Ah you have arrived" The masculine voice of Flannery sounded from the house.

After a few minutes Flannery appeared, walking towards Cynder from underneath the earth dragon.

"Took you long enough" Flannery said with an annoyed look on her face when she was only about one metre away from Cynder.

"Sorry but I um" Cynder couldn't get things sorted out.

"What is Cynder doing here Flannery?" the large earth dragon asked.

"I invited her for breakfast" Flannery replied short.

"And you didn't ask or even mentioned it to either of us?" He asked.

"Nope" Flannery replied cheerfully.

"What's going on here?" A feminine voice now sounded from the house.

"Flannery invited Cynder for breakfast" the earth dragon said to the unknown female.

"Cynder!, Well she is more than welcome" The voice replied warmly and also a bit shocked.

Cynder walked behind Flannery still a bit confused by the whole situation.

When she entered the house she looked around. The house looked a lot like Georga's it had tied straw piles with sheets to serve as couches. The walls were painted with yellow and the floor was collared slightly red. As was normal the central room was the living room with a fireplace in the middle. The other rooms were covered by a curtain. However it looked like this family was financially more spacious judging from the larger size of the house and the larger number of stuff laying around.

"Well I never expected Cynder to walk into our house" Cynder could now see who the female was: It was a fire dragoness who was quite tall and had a medium build. She had bright red scales and orange wings. However she was nowhere as robust and muscular as Flannery was.

"It's an honour to meet you Cynder" The dragoness said very polite and bowed like normal.

"That's not necessary" Cynder said almost without thinking.

"Yeah why is she so special anyway?" Flannery said in an indignant tone.

"Don't talk like that Flannery" The dragoness said sharply.

"Humph" Flannery looked away towards the wall.

"My name is Zerzelie and this is my life mate Globe" The dragoness said while looking at the earth dragon that was also standing in the room.

"And I am sure you have already met our daughter Flannery" Zerzelie signed.

"Are we going to eat already" Flannery nagged.

"Yeah, yeah, hold you wings down" Zerzelie signed annoyed.

Zerzelie walked towards the kitchen and pulled out some different pieces of meat apparently from different animals and cooked them with her fire breath.

She then also picked out some fruits and put them on a dish together with the meat walked towards the middle of the room before putting it down on the floor.

Flannery raced towards to the food right away and tore very large chunks of meat from it before anyone else had even lain down.

"That Flannery appears like she can be a quite brat" Cynder thought as Flannery first almost forced her to come, asked her annoyed what took her, didn't acknowledge her deeds, pressured her mother to make food and also started eating without waiting for anyone else.

"Don't take it personally" Zerzelie said as she seemed to read Cynder's thoughts.

"Flannery never really cares about fame or manners and just always acts same, no matter if there are guests or who those guests are".

"Do I need to eat this thing alone or are you going to eat it as well" Flannery said in her already familiar annoyed voice.

Seeing that it was normal here Cynder walked up towards the dish and started ripping off peaces of meat without waiting for anyone else.

"Which one of you two is going to fight me at the end?" Flannery asked.

"The winner of the cup get's to decide who to fight" Cynder deliberately used a general subject in her sentence.

"So that means it is going to be you and me going at it sister" Flannery declared.

"Why do you want to fight me instead of Spyro?" Cynder asked a bit offset by Flannery calling her sister.

"I heard somewhere that you are the terror of the skies and I always wanted to fight that dragon one day" Flannery said.

"Well sorry to disappoint you" Cynder now sounded death serious and cynically "But the terror of the skies is death" She rose up and spoke very strict and almost angrily.

"No she isn't, she is eating together with me right now" Flannery said, still joking about it.

"No that monster is gone for good" Cynder hissed and looked angrily down at Flannery.

"Sure about that? Because it looks to me like she falls into her old ways of aggression again" Flannery said before taking another bite.

"Flannery!" Zerzelie shouted at her daughter.

Cynder was completely out of words by what the fire dragoness had just said.

"Could she be right?" Cynder thought. "Was I also appearing like that monster again when I hissed at Frost's father?"

"Don't worry" Zerzelie said reassuringly

"You shouldn't pay much attention to what all comes out of Flannery's mouth" Globe said.

"And why shouldn't she?" Flannery asked indignant.

"I'm out of here!" Cynder said as she couldn't take it anymore.

She started to walk towards the door.

"Wait Cynder, don't be offset be her" Zerzelie shouted after her.

"I am going" Cynder said very stern without looking back as she spread her wings and started to fly back towards the citadel.

After about 10 minutes Cynder reached the citadel and walked towards the kitchen to finish her breakfast.

"Cynder" Spyro asked sounding very surprised "Why are you back already?" He asked her.

"I just couldn't stand it anymore" Cynder said while walking straight past him and placing her order at the counter.

"What was so bad about it?" Spyro asked when Cynder had settled down.

"That dragoness just couldn't keep her mouth shut" Cynder snapped.

"And why does that make you leave?" Sparx asked now joining the conversation

"She…" Cynder didn't finish her sentence.

"She what?" Spyro persisted.

"She just never quitted talking about my evil dark adult thingy" Cynder hinted as she didn't want to say it.

"Oh you mean about the ter-" Spyro swallowed his sentence "I can understand that you don't want to be with her if she keeps bringing it up" Spyro said warmly.

"Thank you Spyro" Cynder said while she nuzzled his snout.

"Sure no problem" Spyro said after he took a bit more distance from the romance scene.

Sparx turned around, not wanting to look at the two dragons.

"Cynder!" The familiar voice of the mole sounded to indicate that Cynder's meal was ready.

After Cynder had eaten her meal she and Spyro got down to their daily business and that took the remainder of the morning.

Somewhere else inside Warfang a young fire dragon was quickly eating his breakfast.

"Hey Flame hurry up and finish" A hasty earth dragoness shouted "You still have a lot of work to do".

Flame quickly swallowed his meat while making a filthy gorging sound.

The orphanage he had grown up in still looked just a sad and dull as it has done ever since Flame could remember. He quickly forgot about it however and waited for his morning chore.

"I want the kitchen completely cleaned before noon" The earth dragoness ordered. "After that you are free from more chores for the remainder of the day"

"Okay" Flame said.

Flame started to swipe the floor with his tail and put all the mess in the dumb.

"Should I really enter the Igus cup?" He had repeated the question inside his mind countless times now.

"I don't know if I could ever do something that big"

"Something on your mind Flame?" a female voice sounded behind him.

"No, just thinking about the cup" Flame answered.

"Still having doubts about it?" The dragoness asked like it was a unnecessary question.

"Yeah, I just can't be sure" Flame said his voice sounding weaker now.

"Flame" The dragoness shook her head "You are the most powerful fire dragon I know. I am sure you will do fine" The dragoness said warmly.

"Thanks Electa" Flame said.

"No thanks, but you really should get back to your chore now Flame" Electa reminded him.

"I will" Flame replied

"Maybe I should just trust Electa and go for it and register" Flame thought when Electa had left the kitchen.

"Yeah, that's what I am going to do" Flame thought out loud now.

"I hope cleaning the kitchen is the thing you were talking about" A stern female voice sounded.

"Yes ma'am" Flame replied a bit scared quickly returning to his cleaning.

"It's time now to also inform the people outside of Warfang" Terrador said after Spyro and Cynder had returned from their usual morning chores.

"Yeah we need every fire dragon in the world to show up so that also means the ones outside of Warfang" Spyro said filling it in.

"No, there won't be anymore fire dragons" Terrador said sounding very sad.

"Huh?" Cynder tilted her head "Why not?"

"Maybe it is time to tell you how things are now with the dragon race" Terrador said.

Spyro and Cynder settled down on the floor because they felt it was going to be a long talk now.

"There are almost no other dragons" Terrador said simply

"Huh what do you mean no other dragons" Cynder exclaimed

"I see dragons all over the place here" Sparx brought in.

"That's because nearly all dragons have fled towards Warfang during the war with the dark master"

"Are you saying that the dragons that are in Warfang right now are the only ones that are left!" Spyro almost shouted in disbelief.

"Yes that's exactly what I am saying" Terrador said in a sad tone "Any dragon that didn't make it to Warfang has been massacred by the dark master's forces"

"Just hold one there" Cynder interrupted "We met one on our way back towards Warfang"

"That dragoness was an exception and judging from your story she also has exceptional power" Terrador corrected her "She and maybe only a few other ones could still be out there but that's about it" He now lowered his head "Whenever the dark master's army conquered an area they completely looted it and killed every single dragon they found. Warfang is the only dragon inhabited place the Malefor didn't conquer although it was very close".

"How many dragons were there before the war?" Spyro asked although something inside told him he didn't want to hear the answer.

"Before the war with the dark master there were close to a 1.000.000 dragons in the world" Terrador sighed sadly "Now I think there are about 500 left"

"500 only" Cynder shouted "But that means that only 1 in every 2000 dragons made it out of the war alive" She calculated quickly.

"That's right Cynder" Terrador admitted.

"So many dragons I couldn't save" Spyro muttered while he lowered his head and dropped his wings on the floor.

"Don't blame yourself Spyro" Cynder drew closer and put her wing around him.

"But so many were counting on me" Spyro said as a tear formed in his eye "So many needed my help and I didn't give it"

"There wasn't anything you could do" Cynder moved closer.

"Without you there wouldn't be any left at all" Cynder said "You are a real hero Spyro and you deserve the hero's treatment".

"Not that I enjoy it" Spyro sneered swiping the tear away.

"Just try and feel yourself special" Cynder said glad that she had the ability to provide comfort for Spyro when he needed it.

"What are we supposed to do today?" Spyro asked after they got the matter sorted out.

"That we are also informing outside of Warfang falls outside of your jobs" Terrador said. "Most dragons are aware of the tournament by now so another speech won't be of any use. As for the posters, the moles will take care of that" Terrador said eliminating both their jobs.

"I want you to just roam around and try to find fire dragons that haven't registered yet."

"Are there dragons who haven't registered yet?" Spyro asked in disbelief.

"We have received around 60 registrations and we are sure that there are more then just 60 capable fire dragons in Warfang" Terrador said.

"Yeah we don't want our little plan to fail" Sparx said.

"Right, so pretend it to be a normal day and just try to visit as many places as possible; okay?" Terrador asked

"Okay" Spyro and Cynder replied in unison.

"Where do you think we should start?" Spyro asked when Terrador had left the room.

"Maybe rich-boy?" Sparx suggested.

"Excellent suggestion Sparx" Spyro said.

"Yeah he is the one with the most contacts" Cynder said.

"I can't come with you however" Sparx said.

"And why not?" Cynder asked.

"I have promised to Terrador that I would get someone special" Sparx said deliberately trying to be vague.

"And who might that be?" Spyro asked looking very intrigued.

"You'll see" Sparx said while grinning "The journey will take several days so I won't see you again until the beginning of the tournament though" Sparx now sounded a bit sad.

"That won't be a problem Sparx" Cynder said "He still has me"

"Yeah that's what I'm afraid of" Sparx muttered.

"What was that?" Cynder asked looking very dangerous.

"I think I will take my leave now" Sparx quickly floated out of the room without answering the question.

"Who do you think he is going to get?" Spyro asked.

"I don't know but we will see it in just a few days" Cynder said while she shrugged.

"Okay then let's just be on our way now" Spyro walked towards the exit with Cynder close behind.

They flew towards Frost's house and reached it within about 5 minutes.

As was normal Cynder knocked on the door.

The door opened and revealed Igüsa standing in the hallway.

"Why hallo there" Igüsa said in her usual friendly voice.

"Hallo there Igüsa, is Frost home?" Spyro asked.

"No, I'm sorry but he isn't" She replied.

"Do you know where we could find him then maybe?" Spyro then asked.

"He said that he went to the sport arena to play some tailball"

"Where can we find the sporting arena?"

"It's not far, it's about 4 minutes flying that way" Igüsa was pointing towards the centre of the city "The building is very large and has many round decorations on it so I'm sure you will recognise it"

"Thanks Igüsa" Cynder said warmly.

"My pleasure" Igüsa replied sweetly before closing the door and returning to her chores inside the house.

"I think it's over there" Spyro pointed with his wing when they were approaching the central square.

The sport arena was a large building made out of the same stones as the rest of the city. It was an enormous ring with a small ledge towards inside. It had round and ring shaped patterns on it in various colours what made it easy to recognise.

They flew through the ring and spotted a few young dragons playing tailball.

"Hey look up there!" One of the dragons shouted.

Spyro and Cynder landed and right away they were surrounded by the dragons.

"Well Spyro and Cynder what brings you here?" Frost stepped out of the crowd and took the word while the other dragons remained silent.

"We just wanted to ask if we could join in" Spyro said cheerfully.

"Actually we wanted to…" Cynder started but Spyro stepped in front of her.

"Is that Okay Frost?" he asked.

"Its okay" Frost replied.

"The male's side is over there and the female's side is over there" Frost pointed with his wings, first right then left.

"Spyro!" Cynder said angrily when the dragons had walked away. "We were supposed to get fire dragons to enter the cup, not to play around".

"Giving impressive speeches isn't the right way and besides…" Spyro walked up to her.

"You gotta learn just have to have some fun once in a while Cynder" He said before running off.

"Wait Spyro!" Cynder shouted after him.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I don't know how to play the game" Cynder admitted.

"Are you two mates going to come or what!" A dragoness that Spyro recognised as Ampere asked.

"We are not mates!" Spyro shouted back.

"But are you two going to come already?" Inge asked also getting a bit annoyed.

"You start without us" Spyro shouted back "I will explain the game to Cynder and then we will join"

He didn't get a reply but the dragons started their game again and he turned to Cynder.

"You see you play it as follows…" Spyro then explained the game.

"I get it" Cynder said when he was finished.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Spyro said before running of to his side and Cynder did the same.

Spyro intercepted the ball the second he got to the field.

"Spyro!" Spyro heard the voice of Zap.

He knocked the ball in that direction hoping Zap would catch it.

Zap braced himself and smacked the ball all the way to the other side of the field towards Frost.

Frost raised his chest to stop the ball and shot it towards the goal when it had bounced back up.

However just after he shot it a pink shape appeared and shot it away towards the black member of her team.

Cynder tried to smack the ball towards another dragoness.

However she failed and the ball went completely in the wrong direction and it looked like Frost was going to get it again.

Luckily an electric dragoness shot up and passed the ball back to her so that she could try again.

This time Cynder focused better and made sure she hit it accurately.

However just as she was about to swing her tail a dragon appeared in front of her and passed the ball to Frost who was still standing close to the goal.

Ember couldn't stop him this time and he shot the ball towards the goal with so much force that she had no choice but to let it go.

The males cheered and returned to their side.

"Sorry" Ember apologised.

"No hard feelings" An electric dragoness said "Mind if I take over now?"

"Yeah I think I want some action" Ember said sounding very pumped and she raced out of the goal and towards the middle of the field.

Following her example Cynder ran towards the middle of the field but moved to the far left side as she saw another electric dragoness standing on the far right side.

Ember now had the ball and shot it towards Electa.

Electa launched it towards Inge who was standing further towards the boy's goal.

"Up here!" Cynder shouted as she hovered over the playing field.

Inge shot the ball up when she got it.

Cynder spun around and made a swirling motion and launched the ball towards the other goal with an enormous amount of power.

It was Spyro now who stood in the goal and he braced himself and moved his wings in exactly the right position, he had only played the game once before but his fighting knowledge and battle instincts guided him well.

When the ball was close he dug his claws into the ground and tried to catch the ball with his wings.

However it was in vain and Spyro was launched together with the ball and was stopped by the net.

"Spyro!" Cynder ran over to him.

"Good one there Cynder" Spyro shook his head to erase his daze as he got to his feet.

"I'm sorry Spyro" Cynder lowered her head.

"For what? Hitting me?" He laughed as he moved the ball towards the front of the goal.

"That is what you are supposed to do, I am the goal keeper remember" he sneered as he put the ball in front of him.

"Now are you going to go to your side or what?"

Cynder quickly raced over to the female's side.

Spyro spun and shot the ball away towards Zap who was standing the closest to the goal.

Zap right away passed it towards Frazil who in turn passed it very quickly to Frost.

However Ember intercepted the ball once again and now shot it towards Electa who was flying above.

Electa spun head over heels and shot it towards the goal.

This time Spyro used his tail and shot it right back up in the sky.

The ball shot past Electa and flew right out of the arena.

"Oops" Spyro playfully.

"Nice going there" Frazil said very annoyed.

"I will go and get it" Cynder volunteered.

She flew out of the stadium and looked for the ball.

The ball had a bright blue colour so it wasn't very hard to find.

She picked it up and carried it in her right front leg and held it close to her body with her claws as she flew back.

Actually the game wasn't much fun for her but she didn't want to drop out on all those dragons including her purple one.

She flew back into the stadium and put the ball down when she had landed.

"Since Spyro made a mistake, you girls will now get a free launce from point blank range" Frost once again took charge.

"Go on Cynder make another one" Ember gave her a small nudge with her snout.

"Okay I will" Cynder stepped in front of the ball and calmed her mind.

She scooped it up with her horns and smashed it towards the goal with her tail.

This time around however Spyro got to his hind legs and in a timeframe of only milliseconds smashed the ball down into the ground.

"Not this time I'm afraid" Spyro smirked.

Cynder lowered her head "I think I am going back to the citadel now" she said trying her best to appear tired.

"Okay then, I will see you later then" Spyro was way too absorbed in the game to pay much attention to it.

Oxidus was giving the lessons in the fire dojo in the middle of the city. All his pupils were adult fire dragons but since he has been giving lessons here for months now it nobody cared about that.

"Feel the burning energy radiating through your body" he said without emotion.

He got to his battle stand and let the energy flow through his pores so that the dragons could see it.

The students repeated it but most of them released very little energy.

"Don't think, don't doubt" He said with a very fake sternness.

The students still had very little progress.

"What could I have done?" Oxidus thought.

His forgot about his students and thought about his encounter with Georga.

"Was I too harsh on her?" he thought "What happened to her and where did she run of to?" the thought had appeared to him again and again.

But then his stand tensed "That she could say something like that!" he thought angrily.

"How dare she" He now also started to look angry "She could never understand".

"Master Oxidus is something wrong?" one of the adult dragon pupils asked.

"No" Oxidus muttered but with enough volume that the fire dragon heard it.

"Now release the energy" Oxidus declared turning back to his lesson.

The fire dragons raised their heads and breathed streams of bright fire into the sky.

Oxidus continued with to instruct the fire dragons but he had learned the entire lesson by heart so he never really paid much attention to what he was saying.

When the last lesson was over he flew back towards his home without speaking to anyone else.

As he flew back home he spotted a green dragoness flying up to him.

"Good afternoon Oxidus" The dragoness said cheerfully

"Hallo Georga" Oxidus still felt some resentment against her.

"Hallo Oxidus" Georga said using same superficial tone as Oxidus had just used.

"So have your wings healed?" Oxidus asked surprising himself a bit.

"It were just some minor burns" Georga assured him.

Oxidus didn't reply but he moved away from her trying to shake her off.

However Georga flew with him and Oxidus couldn't decide if he should dash to get away or just try to ignore her.

"Going to enter the Igus cup?" Georga asked.

Oxidus didn't want to reply because it would only encourage her to continuo the conversation.

Georga didn't give up and flew closer to him until she flew about 40 centimetres besides him and slightly above.

"Are you entering the cup?" Georga asked, whispering near his sound receptors.

Oxidus gasped by what Georga had done. He turned to look at her and saw two brilliant blue eyes that almost seemed to be begging him.

He didn't know what to think of it but he did know he needed to get out of here right now. He quickly drew his head back and kicked her in the stomach to get her away from him. He then instantly dashed towards his house without looking at her again. Not wanting to face what he had done.

Meanwhile Flame was flying back to the orphanage when he spotted what looked like two dragons in a fight.

He quickly got lower and hid in one of the many dark alleys so he could look at it but could avoid getting involved.

He spotted a red male speed away into the unknown while leaving the green female couching for an unknown reason.

By chance the green female landed in the same allay just metres away from him.

"Why? 'Chough' why would you attack me again?" The female said to herself her voice sounding a bit blocked because of the kick in her chest.

It was only now that he recognised the female "Georga! Are you okay?" He ran towards her.

"Yeah I'm fine and…" Georga now looked at him "Oh hi there Flame" She suddenly said with a cheerful voice but it sounded very fake.

"Was that dragon…?" Flame asked but he swallowed his words because although he couldn't be sure who the other dragon was he most certainly had a hunch.

"Yes it was Oxidus" Georga said her mood dropping down again.

Flame just didn't know what to say but he also felt like he couldn't leave her and that he had to say something.

"Never a dull moment right?" he blurted out.

"What did I just say?" He accidently thought out loud and started to flap his wings frantically in panic.

"Have you already registered for the Igus cup?" Georga asked not sounding offended at all but rather cheerful again. The remark had somehow lifted up her mood.

"Uh I'm um no I haven't" Flame stammered.

"Well let's go to the citadel then" Georga rose up and started to walk away.

Flame wasn't sure but he lowered his head and walked after her looking more like a naughty whelpling awaiting punishment then a friend following another friend.

When they were out of the allay Georga spread her wings and waited for Flame to do the same.

Flame hesitated but a strong suggestive look from Georga pushed him over the edge.

He continuously flew closer to Georga because he was still feeling a very scared although he didn't know what to be scared of.

"Um Flame could you… give me a bit more space please?" Georga asked when Flame was almost touching her side.

"I'm so sorry" Flame stammered as he put almost 3 full metres of space between him and Georga. Very embarrassed that he had gotten so close to a dragoness.

"Don't worry about it Flame" Georga said while chuckling.

Flame didn't say anything more and just followed her meekly towards the citadel.

At the citadel Ember was waiting in line for the other fire dragons to finish registering for the Igus cup. She had been sure to enter it from the beginning but she wanted to have mastered her secret weapon before she entered. Hoping it would give her the motivation to sacrifice all her spare time in order to learn it. The experiment was a success and now that she had mastered it she was going to register.

"Next!" a mole said.

Ember gulped and walked up knowing know was the time to register for it like she wanted.

The mole was sitting behind a desk while bend over a piece of paper.

"Just say your name, age, and your fighter's name"

"Ember, aged 13, nicknamed: Queen of burns" Ember said confident having awaited it for so long.

"All right then" The mole wrote it down. "Please put your paw print here" He pointed to a large square in the middle of the paper.

Ember put her paw into the ink tray and pressed it down onto the sheet of paper to make a clear paw print.

She then breathed a small amount of fire at her paw to burn away the remaining ink. Her nostrils narrowed from the bad small of the burned ink.

"Next!" the mole shouted again.

Ember walked out of the line and towards the exit feeling satisfied that she was now officially in the cup.

However just as she reached the exit she stopped as she recognised two young dragons who were entering the citadel.

"Flame, Georga what are you doing here?" She asked them.

"Oh hi there Ember, I am here to register Flame" Georga replied.

"I can do that myself" Flame snapped.

"Sure?" Ember said putting on an uncertain voice to tease him a bit.

"I um" Flame shrunk back a little.

"I can take over now Georga so why don't you go home" Ember suggested kindly.

"And miss you pushing Flame over the edge, not a chance" Georga said while grinning.

Ember walked to the right of Flame while Georga stayed on the left side.

Flame quickly shifted his view between them and looked very embarrassed by now also having Ember by his side.

"Come on Flame" Ember said encouraging while she moved closer and Georga stayed still so Flame couldn't get away.

"I don't think it is a good idea" Flame said a bit weak.

"But I heard from Cynder that you told her you were going to enter" Georga said.

"He did?" Ember asked "Well then you can't refuse anymore, so go!" she said while taking another step towards him and looking him straight in the face.

Ember could see Flame's body tens and it was clear he was under a lot of pressure.

"Come on Flame, what's the worse that could happen?" She asked trying to lower the pressure on him a bit.

"They could um, refuse me" Flame stammered.

"They don't refuse anyone" Georga said reassuringly.

Ember now had enough and walked around Flame and put her wing behind him.

She started to walk towards the line of dragons and she pulled Flame along who didn't resist for some unknown reason.

"Next!" The mole shouted.

Ember pushed Flame towards the counter and took a step back.

"Just say your name, age, and your fighter's name" the mole now asked Flame.

"I um" Flame stammered not knowing what to say.

"Flame, aged 13, nicknamed: Inferno king" Ember answered for him.

"Please put a paw print here" the mole asked seemingly oblivious that it was not Flame who answered his question.

Flame stepped back, very unsure if entering a tournament in which the best of the best would most certainty come and crush him the second he started fighting and then the whole crowd would laugh at him and shouting that he was pathetic was a good idea.

Suddenly he squealed as Ember bit his right front leg. "Ember what…?" He stammered.

Ember didn't seem to notice his squeal and forced his paw into the ink and pressed it down on the paper. Flame was much too flustered and surprised so by the time he had any idea what was going on Ember had already released him and her teeth marks released a small trickle of blood. However Flame didn't seem to notice it all at.

Feeling a bit scared Flame pushed away Ember just after she had released him making a large black smear on her face.

Ember moved her paw over her face and looked at the ink left when she looked at her paw.

She didn't speak but looked at him with a bit of an odd face; there was a mixture of both anger and joy in it.

Ember's body lit up with a strange red light and the ink smear on her face disappeared. When the glow had disappeared Ember smiled very warmly at Flame who was only starting to feel even more uncomfortable both from the foul smell and by the look in Ember's eyes.

"Well that's done so what do you guys say we head back home" Georga now stepped in saving Flame.

"Yes, yes, great idea" Flame said as he was hyperventilating and looked very stressed, Georga was now his heroin because she had saved him.

"Georga, what are you doing here?" A female voice suddenly shouted.

Flame looked and spotted the legendary Cynder appearing from the staircase.

He cringed and tensed up again already stressed from the ordeal and now he was going to meet Cynder once more.

"Ember and Flame as well, here to register I bet" Cynder walked up to them.

Flame took a step back because he desperately wanted to get out of the situation.

"I hope you two do well and maybe even you might even face me in the end" Cynder said kindly to the fire dragons.

Flame took another step back but he was stopped because Ember had put her wing behind him to prevent him from running away.

"Hey Ember any idea where Spyro might be?" Cynder asked her.

"No, when I left the arena he was still playing so I don't know where he went after he finished" Ember answered.

"Hey Ember why is it I don't smell anything from that tailball match?" Cynder asked.

"The sporting arena has baths for dragons of all sizes so I just cooled down my body and also washed myself" Ember answered.

"I really out to get be home by now" Flame finally managed to say.

"Alright then fine" Ember sounded a bit annoyed but lifted her wing and let him go.

Flame raced out of the citadel and took to the sky, he stumbled and flapped very wildly but because he did it took him quite a long time before he got sufficient lift to fly.

The dragonesses all laughed at Flame's silly take off.

"What was that about" Cynder asked when they had stopped laughing.

"He can't stand something like this, it tends to overwhelm him" Ember explained.

"Hey Cynder, mind if I join you at dinner again?" Georga bluntly asked.

"No, I don't mind" Cynder answered before turning to Ember "Hey Ember want to join as well?"

"What! I um" This time Ember was unsure what to say.

"Come on Ember" Georga encouraged her.

"Okay then" Ember said kindly.

"Let's be off to tell Volt and Wilmfe then" Georga said.

"Okay" Ember followed her outside and took to the sky going back home.

"Hey Ember" Georga asked while they were flying over the city.

"Yes"

"Maybe you could also ask her if you can sleep over as well" Georga suggested.

"But we didn't ask that to Cynder first" Ember protested.

"I did it once without telling them it they don't mind it" Georga assured her.

"Okay, but I don't know if my mom will allow it" Ember said knowing a refusal that was a very real possibility in her case.

"Well let's find out" Georga and Ember now parted ways to head to their individual houses.

"Mom, I'm home" Ember shouted as she entered the house

"There you are Ember" Her mother appeared from the kitchen.

"Have you registered?"

"Yes I have but-. Mom can I sleep over at the citadel tonight?" Ember asked quickly.

"At the citadel you say?" Wilmfe repeated surprised "With the guardians"

"With Spyro and Cynder" Ember corrected "I was invited to have dinner with them and Georga suggested that maybe we could sleep over as well"

"And did you ask Spyro and Cynder if you could sleep over" He mother asked a bit more stern.

"No, but if they don't want it I will just return back home" Ember felt a bit scared by her mother's sharper accent "Georga said that she had done it before and that Spyro and Cynder didn't mind it"

"Well okay then" Wilmfe said a bit reluctant "But I don't want any frills from you there understand!" Her mother said still in a half threatening half kind tone while she brought up her tail and crossed her wings over her back just like the way she was holding Ember during a spanking.

"I understand" Ember's voice shot upwards while she cringed in and took a step back. Her mother's message was firmly printed in her memory.

"I want you back home before 11 o'clock, young lady" Her mother added stern.

"Eleven o'clock" Ember repeated indicating that she had understood.

Ember walked out of the house and flew back towards the citadel.

"I will be going now" Igüsa said after putting away the last stuff in the large house.

"So soon already?" Frost asked seeing it was only half past five.

"Zerzelie can't pick up Furno at the day-care today so I have to do it myself" Igüsa said.

"I will be going now to" Spyro said as he got up from the couch. After they had bathed to remove the smell Frost asked Spyro if he would come with him to his home to which Spyro agreed.

"Okay until next time" Frost weaved.

"So is Oxidus going to enter?" Spyro asked Igüsa. He didn't want to bring it up in Frost's presence so he asked it when they were outside.

"No, till now no luck" Igüsa replied sounding frustrated.

"Well you better hurry then" Spyro said "The registration for today is already closed and tomorrow is the last day he can still enter"

"I know" Igüsa almost snapped.

"We can't do much if he doesn't enter so tomorrow has to be the day" Spyro reminded her.

"I promise I will do all I can" Igüsa said tired, annoyed that Spyro pressured her like that.

"Well I wish you success then" Spyro took to the skies and started to fly back to the citadel.

Spyro reached the citadel in about 10 minutes of flying and landed near the front gate.

He walked through the entrance hall that looked the same as yesterday so he paid little attention to it and went straight to the kitchen where he most likely would find Cynder.

"Ah, there he is" Cynder said sounding a bit annoyed.

"Um, hallo there Spyro" A female voice said sounding a bit uncertain.

"Oh, Ember and Georga too what are you doing here?" he asked very surprised.

"Cynder invited us for dinner" Georga answered.

"Oh she did?" Spyro looked at Cynder who nodded back.

"Fine by me" Spyro said while walking up to the counter to place his order.

The girls quickly also got up and followed him. "Don't we have to wait for the guardians?" Ember asked as she waited for her turn to place an order.

"No, they told me to just go ahead" Cynder assured her.

"Okay then" Ember replied

"I would like a good boar" Spyro ordered.

"A spiced sheep for me" Cynder ordered next.

"4 taviboah's and half a sheep for me" Georga ordered.

"A large portion of pesos' for me" Ember ordered last.

They walked back to their table and awaited the moles to finish.

The meals of Spyro, Cynder and Georga arrived quickly but the one of Ember took a bit longer.

After some time her meal was also finished and she picked up the bowl in her jaws and walked back to the table.

In the bowl were a large number of tiny blue orbs that were steaming hot.

Now that they all had their food they started to eat. They were all hungry so they finished very quickly and didn't say much.

"Um Cynder?" Ember said a bit weak trying her very best not to say anything that could be offending at all cost.

"What?" Cynder had just finished her meal.

"Is it okay if Georga and I sleep over for the night?" She asked.

"It's fine" Cynder said "The more the happier" Spyro said.

"The more the merrier Spyro" Cynder corrected a bit stern but also with a grin "It's okay. She said turning back to Ember.

"Sorry, but I can't stay" Georga said a bit sad.

"Huh? Why not?" Ember asked surprised because it was Georga who suggested it in the first place.

"Volt refused to let me sleep over, he said I could eat dinner with you but I will sleep again in my own room"

"That's too bad" Spyro said.

"Well I really ought to get going now" Georga got up.

"I'm sure I will see you again soon, so bye" Georga weaved before walking out of the kitchen.

"Bye" The three remaining dragon said one after the other.

The three young dragons walked up to their room to play and to accommodate for yet another sleep-over.

They picked the straw filled mattress out of the storage room and carried it towards their room.

Ember helped carry it together with Spyro and Cynder quickly moved the stuff out of the way to put it down.

"Wow, all these things are yours?" Ember rushed over to the shelf that held the young dragon's toys.

"Yes, the guardians gave them to us when they made our room before we arrived" Cynder said a bit surprised by Ember's awe.

"Hey I always wanted one of these things" Ember picked up a clear orb from the shelf and put it down on the ground.

"What is it then?" Spyro asked as he had never used the thing.

"It's an element bomb" Ember said "When fully charged it is a lethal weapon but when only charged only a little it is just a fun toy to play with"

"If you don't have one, how do you know how to use it?" Cynder asked.

"Frost has one and I am a part of his group of friends"

"Okay then, so how do you use it?" Spyro asked.

"Well one dragon charges up the bomb with his element and then he throws it towards someone else while saying something that falls within a curtain category of words like food, attacks or names. Then if the one catches it he or she must then quickly think of a word of his own and throw it towards the next player. You aren't allowed to use a word that's already been used. You never know when the bomb will releases its charge so one will be the victim and feel the bomb release the energy and he or she then is the loser and will pick the next category as well as charge up the bomb"

"Doesn't it hurt?" Cynder asked as the thought of a fire explosion inside her mouth didn't seem like a nice experience.

"That all depends on how much you charge it" Ember said "It will be fine"

"Okay then, let's do it" Spyro stepped to another place in the room so the three dragons now stood in a triangle.

"Let's say names as the first category" Ember suggested.

"Okay" Spyro replied "Fine with me" Cynder also agreed.

Ember took the orb in her mouth and the orb's colour chanced from clear to slightly red.

Ember hurled the orb towards Spyro "Cynder" She shouted.

Spyro now hurled the orb to Cynder "Ember" he shouted.

Now Cynder threw it at Ember "Georga"

Ember threw it at Spyro again "Flame".

Spyro caught it in his mouth but no sooner had the orb stopped in his jaws or it released a small bang and a red light.

Spyro spit up the ball and couched more from surprise then from pain.

"Was it so bad? Did I use too much power?" Ember asked a bit worried.

"No, I was just surprised, that's all" Spyro assured her.

"Now it's Spyro's turn to decide since he lost" Ember declared.

"Alright then the category is locations" Spyro said as he grabbed the orb in his jaws and focused a small amount of energy into it.

The orb's colour now chanced to yellow although it did seem brighter then when Ember charged it.

Spyro threw it at Cynder "Citadel"

Cynder threw it at Ember "Central Square"

Ember threw it at Spyro "Moon Lake"

Spyro held it in his jaws as he quickly was trying to come up with another location. He then threw it back at Cynder who quickly caught it "Concurrent skies"

The name felt like a bomb shell to Cynder as she was reminded of the dreaded building that still stood there and the even more feared creature that used to be inside.

"Cynder" Ember shouted as she had the orb in her mouth and was staring into space for about 5 seconds now.

Suddenly the orb gave Cynder a sharp jolt causing her to cringe in.

"Are you okay Cynder?" Spyro walked up to her.

"Urg, yes I'm fine" Cynder replied still feeling a bit shocked.

"Why did you just stand there?" Ember asked her.

"Sorry I just couldn't put my mind to it" Cynder said not wanting Ember to know.

"It's okay" Spyro assured Cynder.

"Sure?" Ember asked.

"It's okay" Spyro said again speaking to Ember more clearly then he had done to Cynder.

Cynder yawned "Let's go to bed now shall we" She suggested.

"Yeah good idea" Spyro agreed while walking to the bed and laying down, waiting for Cynder to come and lay down next to him.

"Feels odd not to have Sparx here" Spyro thought as he always said 'Good night everyone' every time they got to bed.

"Good night you two" Ember walked to her mattress and laid down on her belly while her head rested on her paws and she curled her tail around herself.

"Well someone does take the job over I guess" Spyro thought as Ember said exactly the same thing Sparx would have said.

Cynder walked up towards the bed and laid down next to Spyro.

"Why was it that you didn't throw the orb?" Spyro whispered to her.

"It was…nothing" Cynder said sounding tired.

"Sure about that?" Spyro asked again.

"I said it was nothing" Cynder said sharper, however she didn't turn away from him and moved only closer.

"Cynder" Spyro didn't know what to think of it or do with her. He had a good hunch why she was paralyzed when he said the name of her former lair but he couldn't understand why she constantly snuggled up to him every night.

However he was in a good mood now and just allowed Cynder to be within 10 centimetres him, as long as she didn't get any closer then that.

Luckily for him she didn't and closed her eyes in order to sleep while purring softly.

Spyro folded his wings back to keep himself warm. Closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep as well.


	13. last minute entry

The legend of Spyro

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 13 last minute entry**

* * *

"Why can't I play with them anymore?"

"A dragon as special as you can't be seen playing with those lizards"

"What's going on here?"

"I caught her interacting with lizards"

"They aren't lizards!"

"She is free to play with however she wants"

"But you can't seriously allow her to-"

"Do I hear you going against me?"

"Of course not"

"Good, now go back to your post and stop bothering her"

* * *

Cynder opened her eyes as Spyro's snoring woke her up.

"There the next one is it seems" She thought "I haven't had one in 3 days now so I was already wondering when the next one would come"

"This time it seemed to be about someone who wanted to play but couldn't because another person thought they weren't worthy" (Calling a dragon a lizard is considered a downgrading insult).

"The whelpling that wanted to play was the familiar voice that keeps returning to me, I'm sure of it" Cynder decided because although the voice was more high pitched than usual she was sure it was the same one. "This one must be about the past, but just how long ago did this take place?" Cynder thought as the dreams always were strange.

Cynder decided that she had thought enough about it and shifted her mind to other matters.

"This is the final day of registration" she thought "Then we can stop acting like messengers"

She got up and stretched her body, letting her joints pop.

"Can't sleep?" A female voice sounded.

"Oh Ember" Cynder said muffled so that she wouldn't wake up Spyro. "No, I always wake up early"

"I wake up early as well, but mostly I can go back to sleep after a few minutes" Ember replied.

"Wish I could" Cynder replied smiling.

Cynder mostly could go back to sleep if she snuggled up to Spyro but she didn't want to do that if they had someone sleeping over.

She just laid back down and waited for Spyro to wake up as well.

* * *

Georga now yawned and stretched out. Her room was mostly repaired after her ordeal with Cynder and she only had to sleep together with Volt for 1 night.

"I wonder why I couldn't go" She thought.

Georga had asked Volt why she couldn't sleep over the moment she got back home but Volt wouldn't allow it.

"Well maybe next time" She thought and wondered about what to do now that she was awake.

Georga decided to go and visit Oxidus before she got to work.

She silently walked out of her room and sneaked towards the door.

"And where do you think you're going?" A suspicious voice asked.

Georga jumped up from the surprise of hearing Volt's voice. "I was just going to visit Oxidus" Georga said after recovering.

"Oxidus? I thought he didn't talk to you anymore" Volt appeared from the curtain.

"I will make sure he will" Georga said confidently.

"Okay then" Volt sounded a bit reluctant "Just be careful"

"I will" Georga replied "After I have my talk with him I will head straight for my job so I won't see you again till late in the afternoon"

"Okay, have fun" Volt yawned as he walked through the curtain to his bed to get back to sleep.

* * *

It took Georga about 9 minutes to reach the tiny house of Oxidus.

She knocked on the door and waited for someone to open.

After only a few seconds Igüsa appeared in front of her.

"Ah Georga, it's always a pleasure to see you" Igüsa said in her usual cheerful and kind voice.

"Good morning Igüsa, is Oxidus home?" Georga knew it was a rhetorical question since she was sure he was home.

"He is, but he is still asleep" Igüsa replied.

"Asleep?" Georga was very surprised because Oxidus had never slept out.

"He had quite a rough night" Igüsa said although it sounded a bit reluctant.

"Too bad, I will try later then I guess" Georga signed.

"Okay, maybe you can try again tomorrow" Igüsa offered.

"That's fine, bye" Georga said before turning back home.

"Bye, Georga" Igüsa said.

* * *

Igüsa closed the door and thought about Georga's arrival.

"Was it really okay to lie to her" She thought, Oxidus was in fact fully awake and was pondering in the garden as usual.

Igüsa hated it to lie to Georga who she had always liked very much but she just couldn't stand it if another incident happened like the one Spyro and Cynder told her about.

Igüsa decided it was the right thing and walked up to the garden to try and convince Oxidus to go and enter the cup.

"I am not going" Oxidus said like a stubborn little whelpling before Igüsa even had asked the question.

Somewhere inside, his whelpling like refusal filled Igüsa with happiness because at least it was a chance from his down and depressive attitude.

"Come on Oxidus, why not?" She had been arguing with him for days now but still he wouldn't budge.

"I am too busy for something like that!" Came his usual response.

"You and I perfectly know that isn't true" Igüsa said dry.

"A dragon like you should live for these things and I know that deep inside you would love to be involved".

"Then you don't know me very well" Oxidus shot back.

"I know you all too well" Igüsa repelled "I have been with you ever since you hatched remember"

"Well I still can't figure out Furno" Oxidus replied.

"And what does that have to do with it!" Igüsa exclaimed

"I have seen him hatch as well"

"He's 3 and you are 13!" Igüsa pointed out.

"So?"

"So you grown up and I have seen that" Igüsa replied.

Igüsa saw that he was trying to lure away the reason of the conversation so she got it back to the subject "You know you are one of the strongest fire dragons around, so why won't you fight"

"I know that I am the strongest, so what do I have to prove?"

"You know, make it official" She said getting agitated.

"And possibly sacrificing my job and our income for some stupid tournament to prove what I already know" He concluded scenically "Not a chance"

"Almost all your students are entering as well so there aren't any lessons anyway" Igüsa was starting to get really tired from the constant and never ending arguments with her brother.

"I won't enter" He said stubborn "And you perfectly know that you can't force me"

Igüsa knew Oxidus had an excellent point in that one. She didn't have even close to the amount of power Oxidus had so she had nothing to back up her rule over him.

Igüsa signed in defeated and left Oxidus to his pondering.

"Why can't I do it" She grinded her teeth in frustration and angrily stomped on the floor.

"I have been arguing with him for days now and I can't make him even consider it" she hissed with her jaws closed.

"Iga" Furno chirped.

"You're awake" Igüsa's instantly switched off her anger and became the caring maternal dragoness again.

"You and Oxus are bad!" he said in an accusing tone.

"Oxidus is bad" Igüsa corrected.

"Why Oxus bad?" Furno asked looking very intrigued about why his big brother was bad.

"He should enter the cup and he just is too stubborn to do it" Igüsa explained but she was curtain Furno wouldn't understand that.

"Why won't he?" Furno asked.

"I don't know, he just won't" Igüsa almost snarled dropping her head.

Not feeling satisfied with the answer Furno ran into the garden and grabbed one of Oxidus' paws with his mouth and put his claws into him.

"You make Iga sad" He said accusing to his big brother.

"How did I do that?" Oxidus didn't move but it was clear he didn't like Furno's claws seeping into his scales.

"Oxus must enter cup!" Furno declared in his high pitched voice while he didn't let go of Oxidus' paw.

Igüsa looked very surprised at the scene. Was Furno now trying to convince him to enter the Igus cup?

"I won't enter that stupid fire cup" Oxidus barked at the little whelpling.

"Oxus must enter cup" Furno declared again.

"Oxus isn't going to enter cup" Oxidus said sounding very angry and he shook his paw but Furno held on tightly.

"Oxus must enter cup" Furno declared once more doing his best to hold on to his big brother's paw. Igüsa's instinct told her to stop it but something in her prevented it.

"I am not going to enter anything!" Oxidus snarled, he moved his other paw and swiped Furno off his paw with his claws. Furno got hit in his chest by his brother's claws and collided with the wall of the house.

"Wheeh!" Furno started screaming his little lungs out.

"Furno!" Igüsa ran over to him and quickly inspected him to see if there was any serious damage.

She gasped as she spotted multiple trails of blood coming Furno's belly. She looked and it and was shocked when she saw 3 large gashes in the little dragons chest that reached from one side of his body all the way across to the other.

"Oxidus! How could you!" Igüsa shouted clearly shocked and very angry.

Oxidus stared in disbelief at his blood covered claws and didn't move nor say anything indicating that he had heart her. He looked like he was in an entirely another world.

"Oxidus!" she shouted now boiling with rage, Igüsa was not going to let this one slide no matter how hard it was going to be.

Still Oxidus didn't reply. "What would Thundus and Fuoca think about you injuring Furno and not even feeling any remorse for it at all!" She scolded to Oxidus having much hate in her voice.

She could hear that Oxidus was starting to cry in the garden however she didn't care about that anymore.

Igüsa was totally furious at Oxidus now. She stormed towards him and lashed at him with her claws full of rage. Oxidus didn't resist it and she made a set of deep claw marks on his side and knocked him on his side. Oxidus however didn't utter a single sound from it as blood was seeping though the triple set of wounds on his side. He was gasping in shock but it wasn't from the wound.

"Wheeh!" Furno screamed from his injury and that drew Igüsa's attention back to him now.

Although she hated to do it Igüsa had no other choice but to let it go for now because getting Furno to the healer had priority now.

She lowered her head to the ground "Don't worry Furno, I am going to take you to the healer and nobody is going to harm you" She nuzzled him before looking back at the garden "Oxidus, are you coming to?" She asked as she already was feeling a bit guilty that she had attacked him.

She was sure Oxidus had heard it but all she heard was him sobbing in the garden so she just took that as a no.

She still was angry at him for injuring little Furno but that had to wait for later. She took Furno in her paw instead of in her mouth and flew towards the healer. Furno kept screaming and crying during the entire flight. The flight was a nightmare for Igüsa as well as she could feel Furno's blood tickle her belly as it ran down her chest because she held Furno close to her to comfort him.

* * *

Ember was eating her breakfast together with Spyro and Cynder.

"You two are truly amazing" She had been listening to Spyro telling his adventure together with Cynder.

"Yeah we have noticed that" Spyro said sounding annoyed because of the constant praising.

"Don't let all the praising bother you" Ember said kindly instantly getting what was the problem.

"But also don't let it go to your head" Cynder added chuckling.

"Oh no!" Ember exclaimed.

"What? What's wrong" Cynder asked surprised by her sudden shriek.

"Look at the time" Ember said more to herself then to Cynder "It's been very nice to sleep with you and I hope we will see each other again soon" She spoke very fast and bowed quickly before racing out of the kitchen.

"What do you think that was about?" Spyro asked Cynder.

"Maybe she has a job like Georga has?" Cynder suggested.

"Maybe" Spyro replied.

"Well it isn't important anyway" Cynder said ending the subject.

"Right, what is important is Oxidus" Spyro said.

"Has he entered already?" Cynder asked although she already knew the answer because Spyro brought it up.

"No, Igüsa said that she was doing everything she could but that he still refused"

"Right, so what do you suggest we are going to do about that?" Cynder asked.

"About what are you going to do something? May I ask"

Spyro and Cynder turned to see Terrador walk into the kitchen.

"We have a friend that has to enter but he keeps refusing" Spyro told him.

"Has to? If he doesn't want to enter than that's his decision" Terrador replied.

"No, the idea for this tournament came to lift up his spirit and get down to the source of his depression so he has to enter" Cynder said.

"I see, have you tried to confront him with it?" Terrador asked them.

"Well no, but his older sister has been trying it for days now and if she can't do it I doubt that we could" Spyro said diverting his gaze.

"Know anyone else who could convince him, a young generous female maybe?" Terrador suggested like it was the just a random thing that came to his mind.

"Maybe that's the right idea" Cynder exclaimed as she understood what he was getting at.

"Huh? Who are you thinking about?" Spyro asked not getting the hint.

"The only one who could possibly have even more persuasion power over him than Igüsa has" Cynder hinted.

"Georga" Spyro said as he understood it now.

"Right and we know where do find Georga at noon, don't we" She said suggestive.

"Timpetampe" Spyro said.

"So let's go" Cynder jumped up and together with Spyro walked out of the kitchen.

When she passed Terrador something came to her mind however "He obviously was referring to Georga but how did he know it was Oxidus who wouldn't enter?" They had told the guardians that it was a friend who needed it but they never told them it was Oxidus but it was obvious that he knew as he suggested Georga.

She dismissed it when they had reached the front gates and then she took to the skies together with Spyro and flew towards the day-care.

* * *

Meanwhile Ember had arrived home panting heavily from flying as fast as she could.

"Where were you?" Her mother asked sharply and punitive.

"Sorry I just lost track of time" Ember whimpered as an idea of what was going to happen now instantly formed itself in her mind.

"You know what the consequences are for naughty behaviour" Her mother said grievously. just like Ember had expected her to do.

"Yes mom" Ember didn't even try to argue with her mother and just walked meekly up to her mother and like usual her mother shove her tail under her and lifted Ember onto her back where Ember grabbed her mother's spikes.

Wilmfe looked at their crystal clock; a crystal clock is cheaper but not as accurate as a mechanical clock. It indicates the time with intervals of 5 minutes.

"1 for every minute late" Wilmfe said harsh.

Ember lifted her had and looked at their clock. Her heart sank as she saw that it indicated eleven forty.

"40" She thought out loud her voice shivering.

"That's right" her mother replied sounding ice cold.

Like usual she crossed her wings over her and trapped Ember on her back.

She brought her tail blade up and proceeded to give Ember another spanking.

Ember cried as her mother spanked her like she had always done.

"Why do I deserve this?" She thought as she grinded her teeth from another smack.

She looked at her mother's head while she cried from the harsh punishment. She truly loved her mother but that made this punishment only worse.

Ember closed her eyes again like she often did during a spanking and just tried to hold back as many tears as she could while she waited for her mother to finish spanking her. She tried to keep as silent as she could but it was in vain and squalls of pain and sadness escaped her mouth. It didn't matter for her mom however, she would receive 40 strokes, no less.

Like always Ember counted the blows as they reverberated through her body.

After the designated 40 blows she was crying like she always was after a spanking and her mother put her back on the ground.

"You are going to stay inside the naughty corner for 40 minutes, understand?" Her mother ordered sharply.

Ember didn't utter a reply but just walked over to the naughty corner and laid down on her belly to keep her burning behind away from the grinding floor.

"Stay there and don't dare to move even a wing" Her mother said threatening

"'Sob' yes mommy 'sob'" Ember whimpered as the thread made the punishment even worse than it already was.

She buried her head in her paws to cry out the pain without letting the outside world see her tears. She quickly drifted away as she shed some more tears and thought about how she could be so stupid and forget the time while she knew that it would end up in another spanking.

* * *

Meanwhile Georga had arrived at the day-care.

"Ah Georga there you are" The voice of Zorgna sounded.

"Yeah, any trouble?"

"No trouble but there is something I think you like to hear" Zorgna stepped out from behind the curtain so that she could now see Georga.

"Well, tell me" Georga asked.

"I heard something from Igüsa when she brought him this morning" Zorgna started whispering like she was gossiping.

"And what might that be?" Georga asked very dry, prepared to defend Igüsa, Furno or Oxidus if that was necessary.

"She told me to take care of Furno since Oxidus injured him" Zorgna sneered.

"Oxidus hurt Furno?" Georga exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah, that's what I heard from her"

Georga could never imagine that Oxidus would ever hurt a defenceless whelpling and especially not his little brother.

"I know what you are thinking and it isn't going to happen I'm afraid" Zorgna sneered. "You are going to finish your shift!" She said with a fake sternness.

Georga heard it but didn't pay much attention. She walked into the whelpling's playroom and as usual was greeted by the little dragons.

However her attention was quickly drawn towards Furno who did walk up to her but didn't seem close as energetic as he usually was.

"Furno, something happened?" She asked although she perfectly knew the answer and she could see the tears in his eyes.

"Oxus did me pain" Furno replied as he thrust his chest forward what showed a set of dragon claw marks on his body. Although they were clearly healed and didn't bleed anymore they were still very visible and looked like they wouldn't go away until a few days had passed.

"How horrible that he would do that" Georga replied feeling sympathy for the little fire dragon but also feeling that there was very little she could do about it.

"Hey there Georga, how are things here" Georga turned and spotted Spyro and Cynder appearing from the curtain.

"Oh, Spyro, Cynder what are you doing here?" Georga asked surprised that they just visited her at her job like that.

"We didn't have much to do so we figured that maybe we could give you a hand" Cynder offered.

Georga had to think about for a minute "Last time they were more of a burden than a help, however that was their first time so maybe they would fare better now that they have done it before." Georga always had her hands full with the whelplings and with Furno to comfort she could use some help.

"Okay, why don't you do the drills today" She suggested.

"I will do it" Spyro said.

"Spyro is going to do the drills today so pay close attention" She instructed.

"Okay" all the whelplings replied however Furno who just stood idle while he slowly cried.

Spyro did his drills and Cynder did her drills after him. It went better than last time and she managed to control herself. All the whelplings did their best except Furno who didn't move.

* * *

After the drills were over it was nap time and Spyro, Cynder and Georga finally had some time to talk.

"So, he still won't enter the Igus cup" Georga said.

"No, Igüsa is doing everything she can but he won't budge" Spyro said.

"We were wondering if you would try and give it a shot Georga" Cynder said.

"Me? Would could I do what even Igüsa can't do"

"You know him perfectly, you are the same age and you are also of the opposite gender" Cynder summed up "You have more power over him than you realize" She said then she grinded turned towards Spyro.

She scraped her tail blade gently over his back, tickling him "Isn't that right little Spyro" She said with a seductive and playful voice.

Spyro jumped up from the sudden feel of her tail blade and stared at her in horror "Don't ever do that again Cynder!" He shouted more in surprise than in aggression.

"See my point" Cynder sneered while she turned back to Georga.

"Yeah I get it" Georga chuckled at the sight and that caused Spyro to turn his head away so Georga wouldn't see his blush.

"Geora?" A little voice asked.

Georga turned and spotted Furno walking over to her.

"Yes what is it Furno" Although Georga knew what was most certainly at Furno's mind right now.

"Why Oxus attack?" he asked Georga.

"Oxus attack?" Cynder repeated the whelpling's words.

"Why Oxus attack?" Furno asked again.

"I…" Georga didn't know what to say.

"I Oxus bro?" He asked in a whimpering voice as he started to cry again.

"Of course you are" Georga said soothing although she knew that it didn't mean all that much if it came from her.

Cynder was about to step in but Spyro raised his wing in front of her in order to stop her.

Cynder looked at him angrily but Spyro shook his head indicating that they shouldn't get involved.

"I'm sure he loves you" Georga petted the little dragon's head what seemed to lift up the spirit of Furno by a little.

However that didn't stop him from crying and knowing no way to console him Georga carried him back to his bed and let him cry himself to sleep.

"I am going to get Igüsa" Georga declared.

"What?" Cynder and Spyro both exclaimed.

"Furno is in no shape to be here" Georga said convinced.

"Wait Georga!" Cynder stopped her.

"I will go and get her, you have to stay and care for these whelplings" She said kindly.

"Thank you Cynder" Georga said warmly and was very grateful that she would do it for her.

* * *

Cynder flew towards the place she knew Igüsa was at this hour.

When she had reached the high regions of Warfang she landed in front of a bright yellow building.

She banged on the door using her tail blade, not willing to patiently wait for someone to open.

"What is going on here?" An agitated male voice asked.

The voice sounded very familiar to Cynder and she felt her temper flare up even more.

"What do you want?" the dragon asked patronizing when he spotted her.

"I'm here to say something to Igüsa!" Cynder said very fierce not having the patience to be polite.

"She is at work and therefore cannot come" The dragon snorted and slammed the door shut in Cynder's face using his tail.

* * *

"I'm going to kill that guy one day!" Cynder cursed full of rage. However this wasn't the time to worry about the attitude of Frost's father.

Cynder walked around the house and spotted an open window.

She used her shadow powers to merge into her own shadow and seeped through into the house and revealed herself.

"Cynder what are you…?" A surprised female voice asked.

"What in the! Didn't I say she can't come!" The gruff ice dragon shouted.

"Cynder, why are you here?" Frost now also joined the conversation sounding like he was oblivious to his father's barking.

"Igüsa needs to…" Cynder started.

"She needs to do nothing but go and pile up the stuff in the kitchen now" Frost's father barked like a wild animal.

"Pick up Furno at the day-care" Cynder finished her sentence like the ice dragon was even there.

"What happened?" Igüsa asked gasping.

"It's none of your business maid" The ice dragon snorted.

"Now, now, she has done everything she had to do for the day so why can't she go now?" Frost was trying to reason with his father.

"She can't leave, I'm paying her and I say she stays" The ice dragon snorted.

"I will do the remaining chores myself and she won't be paid for this day at all so isn't it okay?" Frost tried to negotiate.

"I am going" Igüsa said determined.

"Come on dad, all the chores are over and she won't be paid so why isn't it okay"

"Okay then" Frost's father finally seemed to listen "But I want all the chores done before 4 o'clock young man" He snarled at Frost.

"Frost" Cynder whispered to herself smiling, she had disliked Frost at first but he really was willing to take over Igüsa's chores just so that she could get finish early this time.

"Okay I will dad" Frost said without any hesitation.

"Now as for you two, get out of here" He barked again at Igüsa and Cynder.

Cynder and Igüsa proudly walked out of the house to show that they weren't intimated by the barking ice dragon.

"Thanks Frost" Igüsa whispered to the young ice dragon when she passed him.

"Any time Igüsa" Frost whispered back.

* * *

Igüsa and Cynder took to the skies and flew back to the day-care.

"What is wrong with Furno?" Igüsa asked although it was an unnecessary question for her.

"I don't know, he didn't do anything and never stopped crying so Georga concluded that you should come and pick him up"

"I see, that makes sense" Igüsa had to go to her job because otherwise she would have been fired. After she had been to the healer with Furno he never had stopped crying. It had pained her very much to leave him at the day-care like that but she didn't have another option.

"I heard that Oxidus attacked him, is that true?" Cynder asked.

"Furno was trying to convince him to enter the Igus cup and he grabbed Oxidus' paw. To shake him off Oxidus used his claws and swooped him off his paw." Igüsa said.

"He did?" It made the situation a bit more bearable for Cynder although it still made her feel something against Oxidus.

* * *

They arrived at the day-care just a few minutes later.

"Iga!" Furno ran over to his sister the moment she entered the playroom.

Cynder just walked back up to Spyro and they kept the other whelplings busy so that Georga could speak with Igüsa.

"Hallo there Igüsa" Georga walked up to the adult fire dragoness.

"Hallo Georga, you know why I am here"

"I know, I really hope you can get things figured out" Georga replied.

Seeing no reason to continuo the conversation Igüsa picked up Furno in her paw and pressed him against her chest, still not willing to put him in her mouth like usual.

Igüsa took the skies a bit clumsy with Furno in her paw and she flew back towards her home.

* * *

Igüsa reached her home after about 8 minutes of flying.

She fluttered with her wings above the ground and landed very gently, she had to because she still had Furno in her paw. She put Furno back on the ground and walked into the house.

She was shocked to see Oxidus still in the garden.

He also had a job and he should be giving lessons by now. However as she walked up to him she spotted that he was actually asleep.

The wounds on his side weren't severe and had already stopped bleeding. They were still very visible however and Igüsa knew that they were also still very sore.

Igüsa now gasped at the size of them. "I gave him those!" She couldn't believe it that she could have done something like that to her own brother.

Now that she recalled it, the injury that Oxidus made on Furno was an accident. Furno was actually attacking him and he swiped him off. However Igüsa truly lashed at him and hurt him truly on purpose.

"Oxidus" Igüsa said softly while shaking his body a little with her paw.

Oxidus opened his eyes and looked at her his eyes blood stained from all his crying.

"I'm sorry Igüsa" he whimpered as new tears quickly started to form "I am so sorry for what I did"

"Oxidus" It was the only thing Igüsa could say.

"Is Furno anywhere?" Oxidus asked sobbingly.

"Yes he is in the house"

Oxidus walked into the house, despite his apparent guilt Igüsa kept a close eye and made sure she would intervene this time if things got out of control.

"Furno" Oxidus said very honestly and also sounding very sorry.

Furno turned his head and immediately sprang back into tears at the sight of his older brother.

"Oxus you hurt me!" He said sounding almost angry but mostly sad.

"I am really sorry for what I did Furno" Oxidus now had tears rolling down his cheeks as well.

Oxidus moved his snout closer to his little brother. Furno took a step back still a bit unsure.

"Please Furno" begged Oxidus.

Furno looked very scared at Oxidus who was easily like 6 times his size.

"I won't ever hurt you again, I promise" Oxidus said with the most soothing voice Igüsa had ever heard from him.

"Big bro" Furno grabbed his brother snout in a hug still crying.

Igüsa now stroke away a tear of her own. She had never seen Oxidus this guilty and sorry in his life before. She just couldn't bring it over her heart to be angry at him anymore so she forgave that he had hurt Furno.

"Oxus enter cup now?" Furno asked.

Igüsa was stunned. That Furno would bring that up right now.

Oxidus didn't reply to the question.

"Are you going to enter the Igus cup?" Igüsa smelled that there was a window of opportunity so she decided to make her move now.

"No, I am not ready for that" He replied.

"But Oxidus…" Igüsa started.

"I am not going to enter the Igus cup" Oxidus said clearly cutting her off.

Because of the situation Igüsa just couldn't bring herself to push the subject any further.

Oxidus walked back to the garden and although he had said sorry for his aggression it looked like the overall situation hadn't improved at all.

"Just what is going on inside his mind?" Igüsa thought as she couldn't figure Oxidus out despite that she already knew him for a full 13 years.

"Big bro loves me" The high pitched voice of Furno chirped.

"He sure does Furno" Igüsa said to her little brother "He sure does".

"I think he loves both of us" She smiled at the thought.

"Oxidus, shouldn't you be at your job right now?" Igüsa then asked him.

"No, not today" He replied although it did sound a little weak.

Igüsa didn't need to question him further since she could fill the rest in herself. He was much to upset and broken to go and give lessons. Oxidus had always been very responsible and knew his limits well. If he decided that he couldn't go to his job than that meant that it was true.

Igüsa just left Oxidus where he was because she couldn't think of anything more to say to him. She spend the remainder of the afternoon playing with Furno to try and lift up his mood.

After about 3 hours playing she got up and started to clean up the house and then make dinner.

* * *

Georga gulped as she stood before the door of Oxidus' house.

Cynder and Spyro had almost pushed her to the front door and had only just left.

"What could I possibly say?" She doubted her own persuasion power.

However she gathered up her courage and knocked on the door with her claws.

The door opened and like she expected Igüsa appeared in the hallway.

"Well, Georga it's always a pleasure to see you" Igüsa sounded friendly again and full of joy. However Georga knew it was partly fake but Igüsa also really seemed to be in a better mood now than she was in the day-care

"I have come to talk to Oxidus" Georga said using all her courage to bring it as confident as she could.

"Well he is…" Igüsa started.

"I want to talk to him" Georga said trying to sound strong but it sounded more like pleading than anything else

"All right then" Igüsa stepped aside to let Georga enter the house.

"Geora!" The voice of Furno chirped.

"Hi there Furno" Georga was very glad that he was cheerful again.

She couldn't see Oxidus but she knew where she could find him.

She walked through the back door and as she expected found Oxidus pondering in the middle of the small garden like usual.

"Hello Oxidus" Georga started.

"Hallo Georga" Oxidus replied like she was a guest.

This came hard to Georga but she quickly dismissed it.

"So, are you entering the Igus cup?"

Oxidus didn't reply and looked away. This irritated Georga as it seemed he didn't even want to listen to her.

Georga ran around him so that she was looking him in the eye again. "Come on Oxidus, why won't you enter?"

"I just won't okay!" He snapped back.

"But I know you live for these kinds of things!"

"Then you don't know me very well" Oxidus used the exact same sentence that he used against Igüsa this morning.

"I do know you well enough to detect when you don't mean something!" Georga replied dryly.

"Quiet you!" Oxidus snapped.

"Why did you injure Furno?" Georga said using the same aggressive tone as Oxidus.

"He attacked me and I defended myself"

"He attacked you" Georga exclaimed in surprise.

"He wanted to force me to enter that stupid Igy cup" Oxidus deliberately said the name wrong.

"Why are you so fiercely against entering?" Georga asked "What is wrong with the Igus cup?"

"I don't have anything to prove!" Oxidus snapped, once again using the same argument that he used against Igüsa.

Now Georga smelled an opportunity since she spotted a major flaw in this argument "Sure you do"

"I have heard multiple dragons saying that they want your spot in the dojo" She said slyly hoping it would work.

"That spot is mine!" Oxidus snapped angrily.

"Sure? If you are to afraid too prove your power than you I don't think you deserve it" Georga kept up her mocking and downgrading tone now that she knew it worked.

"I am not afraid of anything, you hear me!" Oxidus shouted.

"So, you want to put that to the test or are you really as wimpy as a little _hatchling_?" Georga said bullying saying the word 'hatchling' very high pitched.

"Those other ones are going to experience hell when I am through with them" Oxidus barked as he rose up and for once looked like the strong and fierce dragon Georga used to know.

"Cynder's advice" A voice suddenly sounded inside Georga's head.

"That's the Oxidus I like" Georga said seductively and she licked his exposed belly.

Oxidus moved his paws over his belly to block her. He snarled at her but Georga just giggled.

"Oxidus what's that!" Georga gasped as she spotted the set of dragon claw marks on his side.

"Igüsa's punishment" He said with his voice dropping down quickly.

"Igüsa's…" Georga swallowed her words as she knew that she was quickly ruining her narrow window of opportunity.

"So are you ready to prove your strength over all those lame fire lizards!" She said trying her best to bring the fierce Oxidus back up before it was too late.

"Yes, no one is going to mock me and I will prove to them I am the strongest fire dragon that has ever lived" Oxidus' boasting filled Georga with happiness.

"Well than let's move it then" Georga said as she guessed that it must be near 5 o'clock by now.

"Yes let's" She had managed to get Oxidus totally fired up.

* * *

Oxidus and Georga then raced towards the citadel to get him registered.

They landed panting in front of the gates but Oxidus quickly found his energy again and ran towards the counter.

"Sorry but registration has already ended ten minutes ago" The mole said as he was packing in the last papers.

"This can't be" Georga suddenly felt empty inside, she had failed! All their ideas and all their plans were not going to succeed.

"On the last day the registration stays open for another hour" Georga spotted Terrador appearing.

"How come I wasn't informed" The mole said angrily.

"Sorry, must have slipped my mind" Terrador sounded very senile although Georga knew that was only an act.

"Well I am out of here so you can do it yourself" The mole stood up and walked away. Terrador didn't stop him however and walked to the counter to have Oxidus registered.

"Just say your name, age and fighter's name" Terrador asked Oxidus.

"Oxidus, aged 13 nicknamed volcano master" Oxidus said boastful.

Terrador dipped his claw into a small glass of ink and wrote down what the young fire dragon had just said.

"Now put your paw print here" Terrador handed him the form and shove a tray of ink towards him.

Oxidus took a step back now starting to doubt his entry into the Igus cup.

Georga spotted the danger and acted fast "Does a real warrior ever have second thoughts?" She asked mockingly "If you don't even have the guts to put your paw on a piece of paper than you might as well give up the place of teacher right now"

Apparently the taunting worked and Oxidus angrily slammed his paw into the tray of ink.

The ink splashed up high and Georga, Oxidus and Terrador were all covered with ink.

Oxidus pressed his paw hard on the paper and made a clear paw print while also soaking the rest of the paper, it was still readable however.

Having an annoyed look on his face Terrador picked up the form that was now dripping of ink.

"Thank you" He said very dry.

Georga smiled that Oxidus was finally fired up again. "At least it's a start" She thought as he did show emotion now, that being a negative emotion but it still felt so good for her to finally see him show any emotion at all.

"See I am scared of nothing" Oxidus snapped as he proudly walked out of the citadel.

"You sure are brave Oxidus" Georga said softly as she ran up to him.

However Oxidus shove her aside with his wing and the ice cold look in his eyes prevented Georga from trying it again.

"Guess, one step at a time" She thought as she had made progress but it looked like Oxidus was very still closed off.

"I think Volt is going to be worried now" Oxidus said.

"Yeah, you're properly right" Georga knew it was true but she suspected that Oxidus just wanted to get her away.

Oxidus took to the skies without saying anything back at Georga and Georga kept watching him until he disappeared into the distance.

"Oxidus" Georga felt her heart getting warmer as the thought that she had really helped him right now filled her with happiness.

She now inspected her body and wasn't pleased by the number of ink spots on it.

"Oxidus!" Georga cursed him now instead of enchanting him.

She took to the skies and flew back towards her house.

* * *

"Georga! What have you been doing?" Volt asked inquisitive as Georga walked into the house covered with ink spots.

"Oxidus got a little overexcited with registering" She said although she knew that it was very weird.

"You go and take a bath right now young lady!" Volt ordered.

"Good idea" Georga said cheerfully as she walked into the bathroom.

The bathroom was tiled like was normal and had a large white tub that was big enough for an adult dragon. Theirs was an 'XL' model.

However Georga just jumped under the crane and let the cold water flow over her scales she then used her paws to wash off the ink. She didn't plug up the drain because just flowing water was enough for her right now.

She then took a deep breath and closed her eyes before putting her head into the cold stream to wash her face as well.

When she thought she had washed off all the ink she jacked the handle back up with her tail and shook off the water. (Since dragons don't have fur so they can easily shake off the water on their bodies). She checked the water level and saw it a bit low.

Georga then walked out of the bathroom and saw that Volt had already prepared dinner.

"Hey Volt don't forget to fill up the water tank okay" Georga said as she walked up to the dish with food.

"Is it empty already?" Volt asked annoyed. "You really shouldn't pay so much attention to your appearance you know"

"Hey, most water is used by you and you know that" Georga shot back.

"Georga" Volt said punitive.

"Yeah, yeah we both use too much" Georga was in a good moot right now so she just laughed.

"So how did your day go?" Volt asked as he ripped off some meat.

"It went great, I finally managed to force Oxidus to take a sneak peak from underneath his shell" Georga said enthusiastic.

"You did?" Volt asked surprised while he still had meat dangling from his mouth.

"Yes. Although something bad happened today as well" Georga said a bit sadder now.

"Oxidus had hurt Furno and then Igüsa in turn attacked Oxidus".

"Igüsa attacked Oxidus!" Volt exclaimed in disbelief.

"She did" Georga replied although she was more shocked about Oxidus injuring Furno than Igüsa attacking Oxidus.

"Well I would never have expected that of someone like her" Volt still sounded very shocked.

"Neither did I" Now that Georga thought about it, the idea that Igüsa would deliberately strike at her own brother sent a chill down her spine.

"But alls well that ends well" Volt trying to close the subject.

"You're right in that one Volt" Georga smiled at her guardian glad she had him to care for her and that he loved her so much.

* * *

Meanwhile in the valley of Avalar Hunter was busy catching his dinner.

He sneaked silently through the bushes and spotted a good deer to eat.

He readied his bow and took careful aim knowing that one misplaced shot would ruin the chance.

He released the arrow and it landed right in the neck of the deer, paralyzing it but not yet killing it.

Hunter quickly fired another arrow and that one hit the deer right through the trachea.

The deer coughed and then quickly fell down, dead.

Hunter was about to go and pick it up then he was startled by a loud screech from above.

Following instinct he quickly got back into his cover before he looked up to see what was making the noise.

He almost couldn't believe his eyes as the Terror of the skies came down and screeched while turning around to chase away any creature that might still be in the vicinity.

Hunter covered his ears to protect them from the painful high pitched shriek of the dragon.

When the dragon was sure that all creature were chased away she walked up to the deer hunter had just killed and began eating it.

Instead of ripping the meat off piece by piece like was normal the dragon put the entire deer into her mouth and swallowed it almost whole with bones and all making gorging sounds.

Now that she was standing still Hunter could observe her.

She indeed looked a lot like Cynder did when she was under the control of the dark master. However hunter could see that this dragoness was very unhealthy. She was clearly famished and her body was covered with cuts and bruises some of which were half healed and some others were still fresh.

In spite of her terrifying appearance however Hunter really felt pity for this dragoness. It looked like she must have been chased for months.

The dragoness had swallowed the meat in just a few minutes and then settled down to catch some sleep.

Feeling that this dragoness wasn't as evil as she appeared Hunter got out of his cover and slowly walked towards the dragoness.

The dragoness quickly got into her battle stance and glared and hissed at him, clearly more in fear than in aggression.

"Don't be afraid" Hunter said gently as he slowly walked up to her doing his best not to appear as a thread.

"I want to help you" He said soothing trying to calm her down.

The dragoness didn't respond and just continued to hiss and glare at him.

When Hunter had approached her close enough she launched her tail blade at him.

Hunter jumped away from the razor sharp blade only just in time and instinctively grabbed his bow, put an arrow on it and pointed it at the dragoness' heart.

However he then quickly lowered his bow and arrow as the dragoness cringed from unleashing her attack and he saw just how injured and tired she really was.

The black dragoness took to the skies and flew away and Hunter watched her disappear into the distance.

"Now, who could that have been?" Hunter thought.

Just then his stomach growled and he noticed that he still had to catch and eat his dinner.

He caught another deer and this time no dragon came down to steal it from him. Although by how emaciated, hungry and weak that dragoness was, the thought that she had eaten his meal made him smile instead of making him of angry.

When he had eaten he got back to the village.

The village was still damaged from the attack of the grublins when he was chained down but it was quickly restored. Luckily for them they haven't had any other attacks because although Warfang and other strongholds were save, the roads and most points were still very dangerous and were crawling with the remnants of Malefor's army.

"Ah Hunter we were waiting for you" The voice of chief Prowles sounded.

"Sorry I just couldn't find something tasty" Hunter lied; he didn't want to tell about the black dragoness because it would only make the village even more uptight.

"You really are picky aren't you" Prowles sighed "We have received a letter that specifically has your name on it" He handed Hunter a white letter with a two small dragon paws on it one was thicker and the other one had longer claws.

Hunter smiled as he took the letter, knowing very well from who those paw prints were.

He opened the letter and read it aloud:

* * *

Dear Hunter

Maybe news has already reached your ears about the upcoming tournament.

The tournament is called the Igus fire cup and will be held the day after tomorrow in Warfang.

Close to 100 fire dragons are entering and it will be a battle tournament on an unprecedented scale.

The winner get's the title of master of eternal fire. He then get's a one on one match with either Spyro or Cynder, depending on who he or she chooses.

The winner will also be the number 1 candidate for the guardian trails that are starting over 4 years.

The tournament is held in Ignitus' honour and the banish the memory of the war.

We would like to invite you and your tribe to come and watch the matches of fire dragons.

The tournament will be started by an exhibition match between Spyro and Cynder.

As their friend we would really appreciate it if you would come and watch the tournament with them.

Any provision will be taken care of so you do not have to bring anything with you.

The exhibition match will be held tomorrow at the citadel at noon.

We hope that you will be there.

Of course any member of the cheetah tribe is more than welcome as well so feel free to bring as many with you as you desire.

Terrador

* * *

"The tribe is mine not his" Hunter heard Prowles whisper to himself.

"Well Prowles what do you think?" Hunter asked him.

"You can go Hunter, those dragons have invited you and therefore you have to go" He said like it was a command.

"Are you coming as well?" Hunter asked in a serious tone like they were going to battle.

"I can't, the village has to be rebuild and I can't be absent" Prowles sighed.

"Well then I better move it now if I want to reach Warfang before noon tomorrow" Hunter said.

"Anyone else want to come?" He shouted to make himself audible for the entire village.

Most cheetahs had to think about it for a minute but then many cheered and walked over to Hunter.

"Only 3 will go" Prowles said stern worried that he might lose the entire village.

"Aw" The cheetah's signed as they knew that it meant only 2 since Hunter would go for sure.

"You get to choose Hunter. You can pick anyone except me" Prowles said.

"Hmm" Hunter muttered and put his paw under his chin.

The crowd of cheetah's held their breath, all hoping that they would be chosen.

"I think I know who are coming along with me" Hunter said after a while having decided.


	14. Kickoff

**Legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 14 kick-off**

"Take this!"

"Too slow there"

"How about this then"

"Better but still not fast enough"

"It's not fair"

"Strength means nothing if you can't hit your opponent"

"Don't lecture me!"

"Someone has to knock some sense into you"

"But that someone won't be you"

"We'll just see about that you lizard"

"Now you're in for it"

* * *

Cynder opened her eyes from yet another voice dream. "Are they glimpses of the future maybe?" She wondered.

"This one was about a friendly fight and that can't be a coincidence" Cynder thought as the memory quickly returned to her.

-yesterday-

"What! You want us to fight?" Cynder exclaimed.

"Yes, the winner will have a match with either one of you so I thought preview of your power will be a great way to start the tournament" Terrador said.

"That's a great idea Terrador" Spyro said excitably.

"I'm not sure" Cynder said as she didn't like the thought about fighting Spyro at all.

"Oh come on Cynder, let's just do it" He urged.

"Well, okay then" Cynder gave in without actually thinking it through

* * *

"Why? Why didn't I think it through?" Cynder grinded her teeth.

She turned to the purple dragon that was laying next to her.

The thought that she had to fight him felt very nasty to her but she already promised that she would do it so she had no choice.

She truly loved Spyro with all her heart but she now had to put that on hold for the battle she was going to have today.

Cynder's mood dropped fast as she thought fearfully about the fight.

However the sight of him quickly filled her with happiness again and she just cuddled up to him to feel him, not caring about it anymore. She positioned her back on his belly and moved her head underneath his chin. As long as she could feel him next to her she couldn't feel worry or doubt. Spyro's warm body seemed to drain all her worry and fear out of her. As long as she had him with her she could pull herself through it. She was sure of it.

* * *

Spyro opened his eyes and saw that Cynder had once again cuddled up to him. It had happened so often now that he didn't panic anymore but just shove her a few decimetres away from him.

He hated it when she did that but somehow he couldn't bring himself to ask her to stop doing it. He just didn't know why she did it all the time. It wasn't cold so it didn't make any sense for her to do it.

His thought shifted to the opening of the tournament. He had been a bit surprised by Terrador's idea but he liked it right away. He and Cynder haven't had a fight since the war ended and he actually wanted to find out now which one of them was the most powerful.

He settled back down but didn't fall asleep again. He was just too busy thinking about the tournament for that.

After about 20 minutes he decided it was time to wake up and he gave Cynder a nudge with his snout to wake her up.

"Yes, yes I'm awake" Cynder sounded annoyed.

"Okay then" Spyro said a bit surprised by that she was reacting like that.

"Are you ready for the tournament?" Spyro asked.

"Sure" Cynder sounded very fake and almost sarcastic.

Spyro didn't know why that was but he just ignored it.

* * *

They came down and inspected the work they have carried out in the citadel:

The main hall was completely redesigned. There were a couple stands for food and drinks near the walls and chairs for non-draconic spectators. For the dragons there were couches standing but only a few since they doubted any dragon would use them with the amount of activity they were expecting. There were posters indicating the timetables of the battles as well as some advertising for the tournament to make the visitors excited. However there was a lot of empty space as well to make sure it could hold a large crowd. The kitchen was transformed into a cafeteria with tables and chairs everywhere. The number of moles chefs had ten folded and there was enough food to last a seize for years. They had removed as many art pieces as they could and the fixed ones were covered to make sure they wouldn't be damaged by all the commotion. The main practice ground outside the citadel was transformed into a humongous battle arena that even surpassed the sporting arena in the middle of the city. It was large enough for 12.000 spectators and left plenty of room for the participants to battle. The stands planned out so that dragons would be able to protect weaker creatures if fire attacks approached the stands. It was divided into boxes, dragon stands were around the box, cheetah stands near the back and mole stands near the front. In the middle there was also a small row for any other creature that could come. (Manweersmalls were counted as moles). There were also ice dragons in fixed positions to take care of the risk that any part of the citadel might catch fire. They had gathered enough volunteers to make sure everything would run smoothly and they had put up many signs to help guide the spectators and also the participants to the right places.

"Ah there you two are" Spyro and Cynder spotted Terrador walking over to them.

"Had a good night sleep" He asked.

"I'm ready" Spyro got in his battle stance and look totally excited.

Cynder however just stood idle and seemed plunged in thought.

"As you know the fight will begin at twelve o'clock, we want you to be in the citadel one hour before the match begins" Terrador instructed "Before then you are free do to what you desire"

* * *

"So what do you think we should do?" Cynder asked Spyro when Terrador had walked away.

"The smaller practise grounds aren't used so want to practise?" Spyro suggested.

"Sorry Spyro but I would rather keep my tactics secret" Cynder sneered as she tried to hide that she actually didn't want to fight him.

"I know your tactics already Cynder" Spyro shot back.

"That's what you think"

"So what else do you want to do then?" Spyro asked her.

"I wanted to go and visit Georga again because I have a surprise for her" Cynder said looking forward to telling her.

"Really what?" Spyro asked intrigued.

"Well let's go to Georga" Cynder said deliberately now answering his question.

"Well to be honest I wanted to go and visit Frost to tell him about something too" Spyro admitted.

"Let's say you go to Georga and I go to Frost and we will meet up at the house of Oxidus" Spyro offered.

"Sounds good" Cynder said although she would have liked it if Spyro would have come along with her to Georga.

Cynder and Spyro flew out of the citadel and quickly parted ways.

* * *

When Cynder had reached Georga's house she knocked on the door with her talons.

"Ah, Cynder what brings you here?" Volt asked as he spotted her.

"I wanted to tell something to you and Georga" Cynder said.

"Well come in then" Volt stepped aside curious about what it was.

"Georga, Cynder is here!" Volt shouted.

"I'll be there in a minute" The voice of Georga replied.

Volt rolled with his eyes "She can spend hours washing and cleaning herself you know" He said to Cynder.

"Really?" Cynder asked very interested.

"Really" Georga said dryly as she appeared behind the curtain of the bathroom.

"Hi there Georga" Cynder said cheerfully.

"Hi Cynder" Georga replied plainly.

* * *

After the three dragons had settled down on the couches Georga was the first one to talk.

"So why are you here other than to gossip about me" She asked still a bit annoyed.

"I just came to say that yesterday I managed to get the two of you an honour seat at the tournament" Cynder said in the same annoyed tone as Georga.

"An honour seat!" Georga's annoyance suddenly vanished instantly.

"How did you do that?" Volt asked also surprised.

"We have the guardians around us all the time so we can get that done" Cynder said smiling.

"Wow that's sounds nice but what is an honour seat anyway?" Volt asked.

"It is a separate box that provides a clear view of the arena" Cynder explained "You also have more space and it is directly linked to the main hall"

"That sounds very nice" Georga said happily thinking about it.

"It sure does" Cynder replied.

"So are you two going to watch the entire thing?" Cynder asked.

"Well nearly all dragons are going to appear at the Igus cup so the day-care is closed for today" Georga said.

"Alright then, so you are going to watch the exhibition match?" Cynder asked

"Of course Cynder, we wouldn't want to miss that right?" Georga turned to her guardian.

"That's right" Volt agreed.

* * *

Meanwhile Spyro had arrived at Frost's house and was already talking with him. His father was already out because he had some business to take care of so they could just act like they saw fit.

Spyro and Frost were playing around with a spinner. They had both mastered the toy already so they were more talking than playing

"So you managed to get me my seat?" Frost asked when he had caught the toy.

"Sure did"

"Although my father purchased one of his own so you will have him with us as well" Frost signed placing the toy between his paw digits.

"I think that is something we can survive" Spyro said laughing.

"I didn't know your father even liked sparring matches?" he asked Frost.

"He doesn't but he will do anything just to prove that he is one step above the rest" Frost smirked as he spun the top back to Spyro.

"I see" Spyro chuckled as he caught the top again.

"So how do you feel to battling your mate?" Frost then asked.

"She is not my mate!" Spyro shouted back holding the spinner clenched in his paw now.

"Calm down there" Frost laughed at his panicked reaction "How do you feel about fighting your best friend?"

"I am totally psyched for it" Spyro said excitably.

"Don't you feel any remorse for it at all?" Frost asked again just to be sure.

"No, why should I?" Spyro asked tilting his head a little.

"You know. Something against fighting your friends" Frost hinted.

"It's just a sparring match, so there is no need to worry about that"

"Good point there Spyro"

"Well I really ought to get going now" Spyro said after he looked at the clock.

"Huh? I thought your match wasn't until noon" Frost asked as it was nowhere near noon yet.

"I still have some other business to take care of" Spyro said as he put the toy away hoping that Frost wouldn't pursue the topic.

"Alright then I am going with you" Frost said friendly.

"Wait! You want to come with me?" Spyro exclaimed.

"Or isn't that possible?" Frost asked.

"Well it is possible" Spyro admitted.

"Good then lead the way" Frost said instantly.

Spyro was very surprised that Frost would come with him to who knows where but he decided that it would be fine.

He walked out of the house and spread his wings to go to Oxidus' house, knowing that Frost would follow him.

* * *

Meanwhile Cynder had just arrived at the house of Oxidus and knocked on the door.

"Well Cynder and Georga too it's a pleasure to see you" Igüsa said in her usual friendly voice.

"Nice to see you again too Igüsa" Cynder said glad that Igüsa was sounding like her old self again.

"We have come to check up on Oxidus" Georga said who was standing behind her.

"You have?" Igüsa asked.

"I hope it is possible this time" Georga said knowing the previous time it wasn't.

"Of course it's possible" Igüsa opened the door and let the young dragonesses in.

"Hi Cyn, hi Geora" the high pitched voice of the little Furno greeted every visitor like normal.

"Hallo Furno" Cynder and Georga both said in unison.

"So where is Oxidus?" Cynder asked looking around but not finding him.

"Oxidus!" Igüsa shouted knowing his most likely position.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming" Oxidus sounded annoyed as he walked out of the garden.

"What happened to you!" Cynder exclaimed as she saw him almost covered in ink.

"He got a little overexcited at registering" Georga whispered to her.

"Oh, I see" Cynder giggled at the strong looking fire dragon covered with black ink.

Suddenly they heard someone knocking on the door.

"Huh? Another guest?" Igüsa said very surprised.

Cynder smiled as she knew who was standing behind the door.

"Hallo there Igüsa" as expected Cynder heard Spyro's voice speaking.

"It's a pleasure to see you lady Igüsa" Cynder now was very surprised to hear a another male voice. The other voice was familiar to her but she couldn't place it yet.

"Why are you two here as well?" Igüsa asked Spyro and the other dragon.

"We just wanted to talk about something" Spyro didn't sound surprised that Igüsa said 'as well'.

"Well come in then I'm sure your mate is very eager to see you" Igüsa said warmly.

"She is not my mate!" Spyro shouted.

"I'm not?" Cynder asked surprised making sure it was loud enough for Spyro to hear.

"Well, um, Cynder is just a very close friend" Spyro said making it sound like he was still talking to Igüsa.

Cynder heart grew both warmer and colder at the same time by the remark.

"Frost?" Cynder thought as she spotted him walking behind Spyro. She had never expected the aristocratic Frost to follow Spyro to Igüsa.

"Iga who that?" the hatchling like voice of Furno asked.

"That's Frost, his father is my boss" Igüsa said to her little brother.

"Hallo there" Frost said soothing.

"Hallo Frost I'm Furno" Furno high pitched voice chirped.

"Hallo there Furno" Frost said again still sounding just as kind as the previous time.

Now that there were a total of 6 dragons inside the living room it was getting a little bit crowded.

However everyone got a place to sit down and even Oxidus was now inside the room and he didn't leave.

"So are you entering now Oxidus?" Spyro asked.

Oxidus didn't reply and looked away.

Georga drew an annoyed face and slapped him with her globe in his back.

Oxidus coughed from the sudden blow in his back and he looked angrily at Georga.

"I entered" Oxidus then gave as a reply.

"Good so Georga succeeded I take it" Cynder looked at Georga.

"I sure did" Georga chirped.

"So are you going to come and watch the matches?" Spyro then asked.

"Well Blizzard hasn't giving me a day off so I don't think that I can come" Igüsa said a bit sadly.

"I will take care of that Igüsa" Frost said "Don't worry about it"

"No, Frost you already did it yesterday and if you would try it again you would be grounded for months?" Igüsa asked him a bit sternly.

Frost signed "Okay then, however I will make sure you get free during your matches and the ones of Oxidus" he declared like it was an order instead of a favor "Got that!"

"So what nickname did you choose Oxidus?" The dragons talked for almost an hour having much to discuss. Oxidus however remained silent and only used the minimum amount of words when he was asked a question.

When it was half past eight Spyro and Cynder decided to head back to the citadel.

Georga wanted to come along as well. Although Cynder didn't want it at first she couldn't stand up to the power of Georga's persuasion. So the three dragons flew towards the citadel and landed near the back entrance so that they wouldn't run into the crowd.

* * *

"Ah there you are" Cynder was a bit startled when Terrador approached them when they had only just entered the citadel.

"There is a friend who would like to see you"

"Huh? Who?" Cynder asked.

"Ah there he comes" Terrador looked to his right and Spyro, Cynder and Georga looked as well.

Cynder was very surprised by seeing Hunter and also Meadow walk up to them. There was a third cheetah as well that she didn't recognise. She could however tell that it was a female.

"Well Hunter we didn't expect to see you" Cynder exclaimed in surprise.

"Really? I was sure that it were your paw prints on that letter" Hunter replied when he was within hearing distance.

"Oh so that was what that was for" Cynder thought as she remembered Terrador asking her and Spyro to put their paw prints on a letter but he didn't tell them why.

"It's so great to see you again Hunter and you too Meadow" Spyro now stepped forward "But who is that" Spyro looked at the unknown female.

"My name is Bianca" the female said sounding very soft and sweet.

Bianca had a cream coloured fur with black ringlets that just like Hunter's. She wore a black cape with a hood but she had it off now. She had large blue eyes and rather large ears.

"Hallo Bianca I am Spyro and this Cynder" Spyro introduced himself and Cynder "Oh yeah and this is Georga" Spyro quickly added.

"A pleasure" Bianca said very friendly.

"So what have you been up to since the last time I have saw you two? And why don't you tell us something more about Georga" Hunter looked towards Georga.

"Well Georga is a friend of us and-" Cynder gave Hunter a summery of their life up until now inside the dragon city.

As she summarized it, it also appeared to her just how peaceful and joyful their lives really were now. There was no war, no death, no destruction, nothing of the sort.

"Good, you two deserve it" Meadow now spoke for the first time.

"I guess so" Georga said sarcastically.

Cynder shot Georga an angry glance but Georga just smirked.

"Sorry to break up the conversation but you two should be getting ready by now" Terrador stepped in.

"Ready for what?" Cynder asked.

"Ready for the match of course" Spyro answered for her.

"Spyro you go to entrance A2 and Cynder you go to entrance E1" Terrador instructed "Volteer and Cyril are already positioned there and will give you further instructions"

Spyro started to walk away but Cynder grabbed his tail to stop him.

"What is it?" That Cynder bit tail didn't hurt Spyro but he still didn't like it.

"Before the battle I really need to do this first" Cynder said lovingly and pressed her lips hard against Spyro's and forced them open.

Spyro eyes widened as he felt Cynder's warm breath inside his mouth and tasted her saliva. Cynder had kissed him before but never like this. At first his heart jumped from it but then quickly he felt disgusted by it.

He quickly shoved Cynder away from him and spit out her saliva. Spyro was appalled but also very embarrassed by what Cynder had just done.

Cynder giggled and ran off towards her position no longer feeling any doubt about it.

"Cynder!" Spyro snarled with his jaws closed. She was going to pay for this very soon.

* * *

Spyro quickly got to his spot on entrance A where he found Cyril.

"Ah, Spyro are you ready for the tournament to start?" Cyril asked.

"Sure, so when is it going to begin" Spyro's said, his tail was twitching from excitement.

"Oh, the match will start after an hour"

"An hour!" Spyro exclaimed in disbelief "then why did I need to come?" he shouted.

"We can't have any mistakes in the opening day so we wanted to be sure. Also the spectators must not see you at first" Cyril explained.

"Okay then so what do I do now?" Spyro asked a bit annoyed that they had to make haste to get everything done and now hear he was way too early.

"I would recommend for you to go to the unused training grounds to hone your skills young dragon" Cyril said.

The sentence really reminded Spyro of his old mentor Ignitus. The tournament was held in his honour so Spyro had to give it his all.

"Okay Cyril I will" Spyro rushed off towards the training ground to do some warm-ups for the fight with Cynder.

He practiced every move he knew and also tried to improvise so more to use against another small dragon. He had never battled against an equal before so he needed new tactics to fight such an opponent. He was so absorbed in his practising and strategizing that the hour was over before he knew it.

* * *

"Spyro!" The voice of Cyril sounded.

"Huh? What is it?" Spyro said as his training was interrupted.

"It's time for your match" Cyril declared.

"I understand" Spyro suddenly sounded very serious and followed Cyril to the entrance of the battle arena.

The entrance was blocked by a heavy iron fence and Spyro waited before it.

"When your name is called you must enter the arena okay?" Cyril instructed.

"Understand" Spyro nudged.

Spyro listened to Terrador giving the introductions for the Igus fire cup and waited to be introduced.

Being here really reminded him of being captured by the pirates. Just like back then he was going to face Cynder and the place even looked a lot like it. It was a large round battle arena and he was waiting behind an iron fence. The most important difference this time however is that they volunteered for it and that it was just for fun. Spyro didn't feel bad about it, this was just a contest.

"On one side there is our all too familiar purple hero!" Spyro prepared himself as his name was most certainly up soon.

"The one who has saved many dragons and saw the good behind a veil of evil!" The speech brought back some more memories with Spyro but he suppressed them because now wasn't the time.

"The legendary purple one SPYRO!" The iron gate rose up and Spyro ran out into the arena.

The stadium was filled to capacity and there were cheetahs, moles and dragons on the total length of the stadium. The honour box stood out in the stadium because of it's yellow colour. Around the honour box where the stands for minors He spotted Georga, Volt, Frost and Blizzard in the honour box. He spotted the bright pink colour of Ember laying in front of the honour box in the minor stands. A crowd of 12.000 is intimidated when they are all staring at you, even if you are a war hero like Spyro.

But Spyro shifted his attention away from the crowd and focused on the upcoming battle.

"Facing our legendary purple one is the also familiar black heroine!" Spyro looked to Terrador who stood inside the middle of the arena having some red decorations on him to make himself more visible.

"Once conquered the world but then made up for it by saving us all! Our precious Angel of darkness CYNDER!" Spyro looked and spotted Cynder coming out of the entrance directly opposite of him.

She looked mentally prepared for it and very fierce. It was obvious that she didn't have any doubts about this anymore.

"The winner of the Igus fire cup will get a chance to battle one of these two war hero's! Now it is time to find out just what they are made off!" Terrador really sounded impressive as he stood presenting them.

Terrador nudged to them and Spyro and Cynder knew what to do next. They walked up to each other and turned around a bit. Spyro took the initiative and put his tail high in front of Cynder. Cynder collided her tail with his in a sort of sword like clash. This was considered a sign of respect when facing an adversary. Then they looked at each other and nodded just like was expected. They turned around and walked back to their original positions. Never saying a word to each other.

"Ready. Get set. Fight!" Terrador flapped his wings down in an x indicating that the match had started.

* * *

Cynder was the first to move, drenched herself in poison very quickly and speeded towards Spyro hoping to soak him in poison and get an early advantage.

However she had made a crucial mistake because Spyro's body tensed as he grounded himself into the ground while watching her moves closely.

When she was within striking distance he unleashed an earth missile to blow her away. Cynder took a direct hit in her chest and was blasted a good 20 metres away.

Spyro quickly took the opportunity and used his earth element again to generate a globe around himself and quickly rushed off to try and crush Cynder when she would hit the ground.

The first attack had made Cynder cough but she had managed to recover in time and saw his attack coming. She flapped her wings and avoided the crushing boulder and Spyro had to break up the boulder and reveal himself because otherwise he would smash against the wall of the stadium.

Cynder took the opportunity and quickly jumped towards him, hoping to draw him into close combat in which she was at her best.

Spyro unleashed lightning at her trying to keep her away but Cynder used her shadow element to protect herself and was quickly face to face with him

She tried to jump over him but Spyro used his wings to try and push her away. Cynder grabbed his wings with her paws and tried to push them down again.

Cynder was now backwards on Spyro back wrestling with his wings She knew that Spyro could never get to his hind legs and throw her off because he needed all four legs to support both his and now also Cynder's weight.

Spyro was very strong and she couldn't collect the strength to push his wings down his body. Spyro then bit her tail that was tangling in front of him and managed pulled Cynder off.

Cynder tried to hold on but was no match for Spyro and was hurtled away by his enormous strength.

She collided with the floor and skated along a few metres before coming to a stop. That Spyro was her absolute superior when it came down to raw physical strength was a major disadvantage in close combat.

Spyro ran towards her and jumped on her while she was still laying on her side and tried to pin her down.

Cynder was struggling underneath him but she knew that Spyro was starting to gain the upper hand in this battle.

Spyro managed to intertwine their tails and Cynder couldn't pull it loose. If she didn't do something quick Spyro was going to win.

She suddenly had an idea and struggled to get down on her belly. Despite that Spyro was on top of her she managed to burry her claws into the sand. However with her in that position and Spyro on top of her he only had to get one of his paws into the right position and he would win.

Suddenly she jerked her head back and her sharp horns headed straight for Spyro. With her shift underneath him Spyro's chest was now laying very close to her head.

Spyro had to move sideways and release her to avoid it, using the fact that their tail were still intertwined she grinded her claws into the floor and used Spyro's own momentum to swing him away.

Spyro couldn't hold on to her tail and lost his grip. However he wasn't thrown far and grinding his claws into the sand he was standing on all four again almost immediately. Spyro was standing sturdy on his feet and could now unleash any attack he wanted while Cynder was still on the ground. She had swung Spyro with all her strength and had not regained her posture yet.

Spyro took the opportunity and breathed a liquid stream of ice to try and freeze up his opponent.

Cynder tried to move out of the way but the stream completely soaked her left wing and froze it solid. With her wing completely frozen Cynder couldn't fly anymore.

Noticing that she was grounded Spyro quickly flew up and hovered over her while he continued to unleash low energy fireballs to try and tire her out.

Cynder moved around on the ground dodging Spyro's assault but she knew that it took her more energy than it did him so she needed to think of something and fast.

She unleashed a blast of wind towards him but Spyro dodged it easily because he was so high it had a too large radius and continued his barrage on Cynder.

Because Cynder had to aim to unleash her shot she had to stand still for a second and that was very bad as she was hit with a fireball on her side because she didn't have enough time to dodge it.

Cynder was blasted on her side but quickly got back to her feet to dodge another attack but only just.

Spyro hovered above unleashing low energy fire balls in steady repetition and Cynder was dodging them as she hoped the ice on her wing would melt from the heat before her energy ran out.

Suddenly Spyro unleashed earth missiles instead of fire balls to bombard Cynder down below. It proved to be a smart decision as Cynder suffered many glance hits from the exploding earth shots.

Suddenly Cynder stopped and folded her wings to guard against another earth shot instead of trying to dodge it.

She was hit full on her wings and the blast threw her off her feet and on her back.

Cynder rolled over on her back in order to dodge another earth shot before quickly rising back up to her feet.

Cynder now smirked before spreading her wings and chasing after Spyro. Now it was obvious what Cynder had done: She had used the shock wave from the earth shot to shatter the ice that was on her wing so that she could fly again.

Spyro continued to spit earth bullets at her but she easily avoided them all. Earth shots explode on contact with an object so they are very difficult to evade on the ground. However in the sky they needed to be full on hits and since they are very small in size they are easily avoided.

Spyro switched elements and unleashed an ice stream to try and freeze her up again.

However Cynder wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. She unleashed her wind element and blew the water like ice stream away from her and back towards Spyro, as she continued to close in on him.

Spyro breathed a stream of fire and it collided and cancelled out the ice-wind spiral but that proved to be his doom.

Cynder couldn't see through the fog of the melted ice but she knew that Spyro was still there and flew through it while preparing her attack hoping that the fog and surprise would prevent Spyro from counter-attacking.

When Cynder thought she was within striking distance she unleashed the most powerful fear scream she could muster to try and stun Spyro.

She could see that the gamble paid of when Spyro appeared into view. He was shaking and seemed paralyzed by the extremely powerful shriek.

The paralyzes only last for a few seconds but that was all Cynder needed. When she had approached him close enough she spun around on her axel and smashed the blunt side of her tail blade into his soft belly forcing the air out of his lungs.

Not waiting for a second Cynder grabbed Spyro by the horns and using the momentum of her spin she threw herself around and landed on his back. Spyro couldn't do anything this time because the hard blow on his belly had stunned him and was still a bit dazed by the powerful fear scream.

When he had recovered Spyro tried to resist but it was futile as Cynder had already managed to firmly grab hold of him. She put her front legs around his midsection and used both her hind legs and her tail to grab hold of his back side as well. She then placed her weight on the base of his wings and then used her own wings to keep them completely pinned down.

Without his wings keeping him aloft Spyro quickly fell down towards the ground with Cynder still holding on to him.

He tried to wrestle himself loose but Cynder held on tight and although he was much stronger than she was there wasn't anything he could do since he couldn't use his powerful paws to throw her off.. A dragons paws are below their bodies. So if you manage to get on top of your opponent and he can't shake you off he is at your mercy. This time Cynder was facing in the same direction as he was so he couldn't bite her tail this time. Cynder was laying on the base of his wings and because of the lever effect she could keep his wings pinned down easily. He tried it with all his might but he couldn't spread his wings to pull up as he and Cynder plummeted earthwards.

Only a second later Spyro crashed full force into the ground with Cynder still on top. Spyro could only wheeze as the air was forced out of his lungs. A powerful shockwave reverberated through is body and his vision temporarily blackened as he was crushed by Cynder's weight in addition to his own falling 30 metres out of the sky. The hard blow also released a large dust cloud that temporarily blocked the view of the spectators.

When the dust settled Cynder had Spyro still firmly in her grasp and had the sharp side of her tail blade by his throat ready to cut it.

Spyro knew it was over now. You win a sparring match if you can put either your claws, jaws or sometimes tail appendix at the dragon's throat. You are then in a position that you can kill your opponent right then and there. Since Cynder had a razor sharp tail blade she had now officially won the match.

* * *

"The match is over! The winner is the Angel of Darkness, Cynder!" Terrador shouted while he raised his right wing.

The crowd started cheering and shouting Cynder's name. There were few curses as well but they were overshadowed by the cheers.

Cynder got off of Spyro and moved her paw towards his face.

Spyro looked up at her and she was smiling so he understood what it meant.

He took her paw and placed his weight on it to raise himself back to his feet.

They bowed towards each other and parted ways just like they were instructed to.

* * *

"Sorry for your loss Spyro" Cyril said when he had closed the iron gate.

"It was just an exhibition match so it doesn't really matter" Spyro said but his voice betrayed that he actually did feel bad that he lost.

"Dude, she totally kicked your sorry tail" A voice said.

"Yeah I know but…" Spyro swallowed his words as he recognised the voice and turned to look at it's origin.

"Sparx! What are you…?" Spyro didn't finish his sentence yet again because he was completely stunned by who were floating behind Sparx.

"Mom? Dad?" Spyro managed to bring out after a few seconds.

"Hallo Spyro" His foster father said smiling.

Spyro was at a loss of words, that he would meet his foster parents here was something that he never could have thought.

"That was quite some battle that you two fought" His father said after Spyro had kept silent for multiple minutes.

"Yeah only did mister legend here get beaten by a dragoness" Sparx said mockingly.

"I have missed you" Spyro now finally said as tears now started to form, he was much to stunned by meeting his foster parents to pay attention to Sparx's mocking comment.

"We also have missed you" Nina said soothing "We never stopped thinking about you"

"I never stopped thinking about you either" Spyro sobbed as walked over to them and let them pet him.

"I'm sorry to break this touchy reunion up but Spyro must go to the speaker's ground now!" Cyril said plain like nothing was going on.

"Oh, um, right" Spyro snapped out of his trance and swiped away the tears "I'm sorry but I really have to go now" He said after he just met his foster parents again after so long.

"That's alright Spyro we will talk to you later. Now go where you need to" His father said.

Feeling that it was alright now Spyro left his foster parents and ran towards the highest place in the arena. He quickly got to a large opening and flew towards the spot where he needed to be. He could feel that his body was pretty shaken up from the hard blow he suffered and it ached as he flew around.

However Spyro was no weenie and just clenched his jaws as he flew towards the peak of the newly set up arena.

He then landed and walked the rest of the way on top of the ring formed stadium.

This part of the stadium was not meant for guests so he wasn't greeted by a crowd but he knew that if he didn't hurry he still could get a mob.

He quickly spotted his place next to Terrador who had flown up and landed on the speaker spot. The speaker spot was an appendix on the top of the stadium above the honour box. It stood out about 10 metres and was painted bright red so it was very easy to spot.

He spotted Cynder already standing on the right side of Terrador looking at him smiling. Knowing what to do Spyro quickly got to Terrador's left side and tried to look as powerful as he could be.

"With that the Exhibition match is over!" Terrador started now that he had both Spyro and Cynder by his side.

"One of these two fierce dragons will fight again. But who that is remains a mystery. Only the most powerful fire dragon will remain standing and be declared worthy of battling with one of these great legends!." Terrador gasped to catch some breath before continuing his speech.

Spyro in the meantime stood steady next to him and tried to appear like the great legend Terrador had just called him.

Terrador sucked in huge amounts of air and Spyro cringed as he had a hunch of what was about to come.

"AND WITH THIS THE IGUS FIRE CUP OFFICALLY HAS BEGON!" Terrador shouted with all his might while he opened his wings and used his earth element to shake the stadium a little to further impress the crowd.

The crowd erupted into cheers and shouts from the impressive words of the earth guardian.

Spyro was very awed by it and by the looks of it Cynder was as well.

Terrador however looked like he wasn't awed at all and calmly walked away into the citadel with Spyro and Cynder following him.

* * *

"Wow Terrador that was awesome" Spyro said after they had closed the door.

Terrador was gasping and suddenly looked very tired. "Yeah it sure was"

"Why don't you two go to your room" He suggested after catching his breath "I think you two have seen enough action for today"

"Well, I really wanted to speak to…" Spyro began.

"Cyril already sent them to your room and they are awaiting you" Terrador said.

"Huh, what? Well okay then" Spyro was very surprised that Terrador not only knew who they were but also had planned ahead.

"So Spyro who does it feel to lose to a dragoness?" Cynder now spoke again having been silent ever since the nasty kiss.

"Bad" Spyro shot back. He knew he couldn't fool Cynder so he hoped she would be satisfied with the answer and not continuo the topic.

However it worked counterproductive at she now knew he hated that he lost "Guess now we know which one of us is the strongest"

"Yeah, yeah, you are the best Cynder now let's go" Spyro walked away annoyed while Cynder happily followed him towards their room.

* * *

Cynder now was feeling very well. She had been having doubts about having to fight her love in the morning but after she kissed him she had managed to do it and now it was over.

And not only did she fight him she also won so now she had something to bully him with if he pulled another prank on her.

However she spotted that Spyro walked a bit lame and that meant that she could have really injured him.

"Spyro are you alright?" She asked hoping for a reassuring answer.

"Yeah, sure I'm fine" Spyro said back sounding full of energy.

"Good" Cynder now knew she didn't injure him so she could put that to rest now.

"But Spyro who are the ones that are going to be in our room?" Cynder asked as they had reached the end of the hall and flew out into the sky.

"You'll see" Spyro teased.

Knowing that their room was only seconds away Cynder didn't bother pursuing it and flew towards the top of the citadel to where their room was.

* * *

Cynder entered their room but what she found was something she could never have expected.

Floating in their room was Sparx and beside him were two other dragonflies: a blue male and a pink female.

"Ah there is the one who kicked our legends tail" Sparx said referring to Cynder.

"Sparx that's not nice" the pink dragonfly scolded.

"I'm sorry but who are you?" Cynder asked not getting why the dragonflies were in their room.

"Cynder, they are my foster parents" Spyro said landing next to her.

"Foster parents!" Cynder exclaimed.

"Foster parent" Sparx repeated.

"You two were great back there" Spyro's foster father floated over to them.

"But we were told that you two were mates so how is it that you fight?" Spyro's mother now asked.

"We are not mates!" Spyro shouted angrily "Cynder and I are just close friends"

"But still why did you have to fight like that" Spyro's mother now sounded almost worried.

"Huh? Well we just figured the best way to start off a dragon's battle tournament is with a battle" Spyro said sounding a bit surprised.

"Is it really that normal?" Spyro's mother asked having a hard time to believe that fighting your friends was thought of so lightly here.

"Yeah, dragons are meant for battle so as long as we keep things from going out of control battling can easily be a sport" Cynder explained.

"Is that true Spyro?" His mother still didn't seem convinced until she heard it from him.

"Yes of course it is" Spyro said while he shrugged.

"All right then" His mother still sounded a bit uncertain.

Cynder had never expected Spyro to have parents. Although they were dragonflies they truly loved him and that meant Spyro had parents as far as she was concerned. Meeting them was tough for her.

"Cynder it is a great pleasure to meet you" Flash now said noticing that they still haven't greeted her yet.

"It's an honour to meet you too" Cynder bowed but it looked a bit awkward.

"That's not necessary" Spyro said although it wasn't directed at him but he said it on impulse since he had heard it so often.

"It's so great Spyro finally has found the thing he craved for the most" Nina said sounding very happy.

"Huh? What was what he wanted the most?" Cynder asked.

"Someone as fat as him" Sparx laughed.

"It was the entire reason he left home in the first place" Flash said while giving Sparx an angry look.

"Is that true Spyro?" Cynder asked suprised.

"Yeah, I always felt that I was different and when I discovered my powers I sent out to search my place and my species" Spyro said.

"So now he has found another dragon and a female to boot" Flash said jokingly.

"So what are you two doing?" Nina now asked very eager to hear how her son was doing.

"Huh? What do you mean mom?" Spyro asked.

"You know, what have you done since you left home and what are you doing now?"

"Well I think you may want to float down and rest because this might take a while" Sparx said smirking.

The dragons laid down on their paws and folded their wings like was normal however the dragonflies just stayed aloft while Spyro told about all his adventures: about his first hostile meeting of Cynder, freeing her from Gaul and finally about their confrontation with Malefor.

* * *

During Spyro's summery of their adventures his parents never spoke and patiently waited for him to finish. Sparx also wanted to tell about his great deeds but his parents wouldn't allow it.

When Spyro had finished about their adventures he stopped to hear what his parents thought about it.

"You have done very well" Flash said "We just can't tell you how proud we are of you"

"Yeah Spyro, that story is unbelievable" Nina said "But we believe it"

"Cynder thank you for supporting him and being at his side when he needed you the most" Nina said as she spotted that Cynder had been standing idle looking very empty for a while now.

"Thank you" Cynder said although she sounded a bit absent minded.

"But after that Malefor was defeated how did you come to this?" Flash asked wanting the story to continuo.

"Well we arrived back in Warfang and were greeted by our fans. Then we met Georga who in turn introduced us to Oxidus. I met Frost during a tailball match that Georga organized while she went to a beauty farm with Cynder" Spyro said a bit quickly.

"What are these Georga, Frost and Oxidus? What's tailball and what is a beauty farm?" Nina asked not being able to follow her son.

"Georga, Oxidus and Frost are all young dragons like us" Spyro answered reminded that his parents had never been in Warfang before "Tailball is a dragon's ball game that I really like and a beauty farm is a place were they prep up dragonesses" Spyro said looking at Cynder who replied with a weak smile.

"You have really changed Spyro" Nina said sounding a bit more serious now.

"Huh? Why are you saying that?" Spyro tilted his head and was a bit struck by the serious tone.

"You have grown up and I don't only mean in age" His mother said.

"You are not an overgrown dragonfly anymore but you have become a real life dragon"

Now that Spyro thought about it his mother had an excellent point there. He couldn't imagine anymore that he was bullied by the other dragonflies who said that he was an overgrown runt and a freak of nature and that he actually believed them that he was just a mutated and malformed dragonfly. He was special yes, but he knew that he was a dragon. He was a dragon for sure, that was what he was and that was the only thing he would ever be: a dragon.

"But you are still our son" His mother said warmly "It doesn't matter to us if you are an overgrown dragonfly, a dragon or a legend. You are our son and that's the only thing that really matters"

"Thanks mom" Spyro said while he stroke away a tear in his left eye.

Spyro then spotted that also Cynder was starting to cry although he couldn't tell if it was from happiness or from sadness.

However judging from her smiling face he concluded the former.

"So are you going to stay and see the rest of the tournament?" Spyro asked.

"Yes, we were planning to stay here until your or the angel's fight with the champ is over" Sparx said in place of his parents.

"Sparx you are going to stay after the tournament right?" Spyro suddenly felt a bit scared that he might lose him.

"I don't know" Sparx said sounding reluctant.

Spyro looked at him very serious now and Sparx felt that he should stop joking about it "Of course I will"

"So where are you two going to stay" Cynder now finally spoke.

"We have yet to figure that out but Sparx told us we shouldn't worry about it" Flash said.

"Hey I just figured since this is a humongous dragon city it shouldn't be a problem for us" Sparx said after he spotted everyone looking at him.

"Well you can always sleep here" Spyro offered.

"We will see Spyro" Nina said.

Suddenly Spyro's stomach growled and he blushed from embarrassment.

"Dragon or dragonfly some things will never chance" Nina said grinning.

Spyro growled at his mother but it sounded very pathetic. It sounded just like a little hatchling and having raised him the tiny dragonflies weren't scared by it.

"Let's say we go down for some food" Cynder suggested.

"But the-" Spyro started.

"They started to leave when you left with that earth dragon after he finished his speech so I'm sure they have already left by now" Flash said having predicted what Spyro was going to say.

"Okay then" this time the dragons didn't fly but just walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

* * *

The main hall was a rummage and there was mess littered everywhere. It was clear the cleaning crew had their work cut out for them.

However having expected it Spyro and Cynder paid it no notice and just walked towards the kitchen with Sparx and his parents close behind.

The kitchen was also messy but they paid no attention to that either and just treated it like a normal dinner.

Spyro ordered a boar and Cynder ordered a sheep. For the dragonflies they ordered 3 taviboah's.

Because of the preparations for a large crowd the food was already served before they had even reached the table.

The dragons walked back to the counter and picked the dishes with their jaws and Sparx and his parents picked the teal fruits.

"You two are really going to eat that?" Nina said as she looked disgusted at the sight of the death animals that were in front of the two dragons.

"Of course" Spyro replied "its typical food for a dragon"

"A dragon" Nina muttered while she hovered to her husband.

Not giving it a second thought anymore Spyro began eating his meal and Cynder did the same.

After they had eaten their meal they started to see if they could find any of the guardians anywhere.

They found Volteer in his room doing some paperwork.

"Excuse me Volteer" Spyro said.

"Huh? Ah Spyro that battle of yours was splendid I believe something like this has never been-"

"I was wondering if you knew a place where my parents can stay during the tournament" He said interrupting Volteer.

"Well for the visitors that were sure to arrive we have prepared that the inns in the city would-" Volteer began.

"So where are those inns?" Spyro asked, trying to keep Volteer from rattling before he got the chance to start.

"I think that they may be here somewhere" Volteer sounded annoyed that he was contently interrupted but sifted through his paperwork in search of a suitable inn for dragonflies.

"Here I think this one will do fine" Volteer said after having found a brochure for a inn.

"I will be more than happy to show you the way" Volteer said politely to Spyro's parents.

"That's very kind of you mister Volteer" Nina said very kind.

"Well I am want to keep my ears attached so I am going to stay with the couple" Sparx said.

"We're not a couple!" Spyro shouted angrily.


	15. the tournament

**The Legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 15 the tournament**

A pink dragoness woke up and stretched her body. Her room was the same as ever. It had a dark blue floor and light blue walls. On the walls were star patters of darker blue. She slept on a pile of straw covered by a sheet to keep the straw from stinging. On the side was a box for her personal possessions and there were some toys littered around since she had played a long time yesterday.

Ember had fallen asleep late last night because she was very excited about the tournament.

"That battle between them was awesome" Ember thought to again.

"I don't care if he lost, I want to fight against Spyro" Ember had decided who she was going to battle and she was not going to divert from it.

Feeling that she was full of energy again Ember decided to practice her fire moves in the garden to pass the time.

She walked out of her room and looked at her mother sleeping on the floor close to her room.

Her mother didn't have a room of her own but she had also chosen for that and Ember never could figure out why.

She just dismissed it walked outside to practice.

Once she was outside she started with some basic drills. She lashed with her front claws and spun around and lashed with her hind claws as well.

She then flew up and did a horn dive down again before biting the invisible foe and tossing him away.

She continued with her exercises until she was feeling that her joints were loose again and that she was fully awake.

She now got to her fire moves and spends more time perfecting her secret weapon. It was the thing she hoped would win her the tournament so she spends hours practicing on it.

A friend had taught her how to use it but had only fully mastered it a few days ago.

Although she could now control it fine she could still practice to make it even more powerful.

* * *

After a few hours of practice Ember's energy levels were starting to get a bit low and she decided to call it quits because she couldn't afford to use up too much of her power.

She walked back inside the house and saw her mother already awake and reading a book.

"Ah there you are" Her mother said looking up from her book "Ready for the tournament?"

"You bet," Ember replied.

"Good, although you aren't going to win" Her mother drew a smirk "Because I am in it as well"

"You are?" Ember said very surprised. She had never expected her mother to enter in an event like this.

"Yes so you better watch out young lady" Her mother of course meant it teasingly but the sentence still sent a cold vibe down Ember's spine.

"I will mom" Ember forced out a smile.

"Good" Her mother rose up and walked towards the drawers and picked out the breakfast.

She cooked the meat and put it down on the floor.

Ember waited for her mother to lie down before starting to eat herself.

Only when her mother had swallowed her first bite did Ember join her.

She ripped off pieces but small pieces so that no meat fell on the floor.

"Hey mom?" Ember asked before taking another bite.

"Yes?"

"Which one of the two would you fight if you won?" Ember asked.

"I think I want Cynder" her mom answered.

"Cynder? Why her" Ember asked.

"She is the strongest after all" her mom said after swallowing another bite.

"Well that maybe true but I am still going for Spyro" Ember said determined.

"Well that's your choice" her mother said ending the conversation.

Ember and her mother didn't say anything more while they ate their breakfast.

* * *

After they were finished and had cleaned Ember headed towards the citadel to view the match-ups.

It took her about 15 minutes of flying to reach the citadel and by then it was already a hub of activity.

There were many dragons, moles and cheetahs talking and looking up the matches. Ember actually didn't like being around this many people but she could stand it.

Ember quickly got to the poster of the battles anxious to know in what block she was.

She found the poster with all the blocks and searched for her name.

She found it in block E. In block E as well were Zerzelie, Celsus and Inge.

"Hey, Inge is in the same block as I am" Ember thought as she knew Inge because they were both part of the group of friends that came together to play tailball sometimes.

"Well hallo there Ember" Ember turned and spotted Georga walking up to her.

"Hallo Georga, why are you here?" Ember asked.

"Cynder asked me if I could help Spyro with something and I agreed"

"How nice of you" It was no surprise to Ember as she knew that Georga would never refuse a favour for a friend.

"Hey Ember know in what block you are?" Georga asked.

"Yeah, just looked it up I am in block E"

"Good when is your first battle?" Georga then asked.

"I don't know that yet"

"Well the time table is over there so come and take a look at it" Georga walked up to another even larger poster on the other side of the room and Ember followed her.

"Ember, Ember, Ember, Ember" Georga muttered as she scanned the poster.

"Ah there you are!" Georga said to Ember when Ember stood next to her.

"Where?" Ember asked quickly scanning the poster as well.

"There" Georga pointed "Your first match is against Celsus and it is at 3:30 this afternoon"

"Sorry but I need to go now" Georga said quickly before Ember even had a chance to reply.

"Okay Georga, bye" Ember said friendly.

"Bye" Georga managed to say before she was absorbed into the crowd.

* * *

Ember looked on the timetable to see if there were any interesting matches she could watch until she was up.

Suddenly there was something that caught her eye '11:30 Wilmfe VS Friant'

But it wasn't even near halve past eleven yet so Ember continued to look further but she made a mental note of the time.

'9:00 Igüsa VS Feusus' the timetable read.

"Igüsa, that would be interesting" Ember hadn't expected her to enter. She knew that Igüsa was Oxidus' sister because she had seen her often with him.

"Well let's go to the arena" Ember said to herself and followed the signs to the same spot where she had been watching the battle yesterday.

There was quite a crowd and Ember had to watch out not getting crushed by the large adult dragons.

After she had managed to get an empty young dragon seat in front of the honour box she laid down and turned her eye to the arena.

Volteer was standing as the judge now but the previous fire dragons were gone and the new ones hadn't entered yet.

"And now!" Volteer shouted as impressive as he could.

Ember chuckled as Volteer didn't sound as thundering as Terrador did because of his light and high pitched voice.

"Furno dragoness Igüsa will face smouldering soldier Feusus" He pronounced

Ember spotted Igüsa appearing from behind the iron fence with a confident look on her face. She was going to go for it all the way.

Ember then turned towards Igüsa's opponent. Feusus was a rather small fire dragon who was about 53 years of age. He seemed pretty plain and Ember spotted nothing remarkable.

Igüsa and Feusus walked to the middle of the arena and collided their tails into a sword like manner before nudging and walking back to their positions

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Volteer declared.

* * *

Igüsa was the one who unleashed the first attack. She breathed a stream of fire towards her opponent. The stream was steady but to Ember it seemed rather weak.

Feusus apparently had the same opinion and countered it with his own fire breath thinking he could overpower her.

The two fire streams were pushed back and forth but it was obvious that Igüsa was not going to win it.

The meeting point of the beams got closer and closer to her. She tried to force more energy into it but she just couldn't put muster up the necessary power.

The fire engulfed her and Ember saw her disappear into the fire.

Feusus now speeded towards her and try and grapple her and win.

However Igüsa was down but not out yet and blew the flames away with her wings.

She quickly fired a fireball towards her opponent and Feusus was blown sideways.

Igüsa fired another fireball towards him but Feusus already had gotten back to his feet and dodged it.

He used a comet dash to knock her down on her back and now that he had the chance he pinned her down.

Igüsa tried to struggle but was no match for the fire dragon.

The fire dragon stood on her wings pinning them to the ground and the weight of his body was too much for her to push off.

He put his claws against her throat and Igüsa then instantly stopped struggling.

* * *

"And the winner is Smouldering Soldier Feusus" Volteer shouted.

Ember had partially expected it already. Because Igüsa's fire attack was so weak that she would lose seemed very likely.

"And now Terror Inferno Ash will face Blazing sky Blaze" Volteer shouted indicating that the next battle was already underway.

Ember continued to watch the matches proceed one by one waiting for the one of her mother.

After a lot of matches had passed Ember finally heard the names what she was longing for.

"And now the Infernal Diva Wilmfe will face the Iron Fireball Friant"

"Infernal Diva?" The name sounded really scary for Ember.

She spotted her mother come from the exit that had the letter B above it.

Her mother had a fierce look in her eyes and she was clearly ready for battle.

This made Ember shiver because is was the exact same look her mother had during a spanking.

Now Ember shifted her attention to her mother's opponent.

It was a rather large male fire dragon who Ember guessed was about 83 years of age. He looked quite tough because he was muscled and strongly build. He could prove to be a challenge.

Her mother and Friant walked up to each other and gently slammed their tails against each other. Then they nudged and returned to their original positions.

"Ready, get set" Volteer shouted as he raised his wings "Fight!" He shouted as he slammed his wings down in an x like fashion.

* * *

Friant was the first to move and used a comet dash to crash into Wilmfe.

However Wilmfe was very fast and sidestepped. She used her wings to spin all they way around and get behind Friant.

Friant had to stop his comet dash because he was about to smash into the wall and that gave Wilmfe a window of opportunity.

She headed for him with her horns trying to scoop him up.

However although he didn't actually see it his battle instinct warned him and he jumped up and dodged Wilmfe's attack.

He now spotted her and quickly flapped his wings to dash up to her once more not having the room for another comet dash.

This time Wilmfe was too late and she got hit in her back and thrown to the floor.

The fire dragoness wheezed as she fell down from the hard blow in her back.

Friant quickly wanted to grapple her and make a win but Wilmfe struggled quite feisty.

He couldn't grab a hold of her but she couldn't counter-attack either. Someone had to break this and take the initiative in the battle.

Then Wilmfe used her tail appendage and smacked him hard on his rump.

This move was so familiar to Ember that she almost felt a tendency to scream but she kept her jaws shut.

Friant was very surprised by the move and his confusion was all Wilmfe needed.

She spun around underneath him and gave him a powerful kick right in his belly.

Friant backed away gasping trying to recover but Wilmfe was not going to give him the opportunity to.

She now used her own comet dash and quickly hit him right in the chest before he had a chance to even see it coming.

The blow was hard and Friant was sent skating across the battlefield.

Wilmfe quickly shot a fireball at him and Friant screamed as the fireball was a direct hit. Wilmfe now kept of firing the fireballs at him; although Friant managed to dodge some of them he couldn't get any opportunity to take a stand against her.

Fraint countered-attacked by shooting a fireball but because Wilmfe was still bombarding him he couldn't aim it and missed her by more than 10 metres.

Wilmfe continued her assault on him as the missed shot was further indication for her that her tactic worked.

When Friant got hit by a fireball again Wilmfe took a couple of seconds to charge up a powerful attack and to aim it properly. This was going to be the her big move.

Friant was gasping for breath and already looked exhausted so he couldn't do much to stop her.

Wilmfe shot a fast and powerful fire stream at him and it blasted him all the way across the battlefield and into the wall.

Wilmfe now used a comet dash to quickly get over to him before Friant had even noticed what she was doing Wilmfe already had her tail coiled around him to keep him down and had her claw at his throat.

* * *

"And the winner is the Infernal Diva Wilmfe!" Volteer shouted as he lifted his right wing.

Wilmfe now was gasping and walked out of the battle arena leaving Friant to get himself up.

Ember quickly got out of the stands and raced to meet her mother very impressed by how well she had fought.

She looked around and then she spotted the sign for participant entrance B so she followed the signs and until she couldn't get any further.

She stood trembling from excitement and eagerly waited behind the small fence that was made so that only participants would enter the battle arena.

After a few minutes her mother appeared in the hallway, looking tired but still fine.

"Mom!" Ember shouted to get her mother's attention.

"Huh? Oh Ember" Her mother said when she saw her. Luckily for Ember her pink body made her easy to spot.

"That was awesome Mom" Ember said as she rushed over to her.

"Yeah, that guy was tough but he was no match for the likes of me" Her mother said a bit boastful.

"Yeah, he was no match for you" Ember said looking up at her mother.

"Let's go home now okay" Her mother suggested looking a bit tired.

"Sure" Ember chirped.

* * *

Ember and her mother got back home and her mother lay down, exhausted from the battle.

"Well my battle is up soon so I will go outside now okay?" Ember asked.

"Sure, just be back before dinner" Her mother replied.

"What? You are not going to watch my fight?" Ember asked a bit shocked.

"No, I'm too tired for that" Her mother replied.

Ember didn't pursue it as she knew it wasn't a smart move but that her mother wasn't going to watch her match came down hard.

She just walked outside and tried to forget about it by practicing her moves.

She practiced her physical attacks and some basic fire attacks to warm up her body so that when she was up she would be at her best.

However she didn't practice her best moves because she had to save her energy. She had already practiced today but this was her first battle so she wanted it to go perfectly.

When she had decided it was enough she got back inside and looked on the clock.

She saw that it indicated 1 o'clock and that it was time for her to go.

"Bye mom" Ember said.

Her mother was already asleep and Ember didn't bother saying anything more to her.

* * *

Ember now flew to the citadel again and this time she knew what to do so she just got to the participant entrance E1 and kept walking until she encountered the iron fence.

"Queen of burns Ember?" Ember looked and saw an earth dragon keeping watch.

"That's me" Ember confirmed.

"So, feeling scared?" the earth dragon then asked now that he was sure he got the right dragon.

"No, I think I can handle it" She said confident.

"Okay then" The dragon didn't say anything more.

Ember was almost shaking with excitement. Because of her exercise her body was warmed up and ready for action.

* * *

"The winner is the lava hammer Therofous!" The voice of Cyril sounded.

Ember could barely wait for the gates to open and the battle to begin. Every second that passed seemed like hours.

"And now the Queen of burns Ember will face the souring fire Celsus" Cyril shouted and the gate opened and Ember sprinted out into the arena.

When she entered the arena the intimidating view of the thousands of spectators quickly drained away her excitement and made her feel nervous.

However she used the meditating skills she had learned from her mentor and focused her mind.

She felt the soothing warm energy of fire inside her body and the tranquilly in her heart. She was now ready for battle.

Ember turned her eyes towards her opponent. It was an adult fire dragon of about 73 years of age. He was of a medium built and a few battle scars. He appeared pretty ordinary except for the large black spikes on his back.

Ember took a mental note of his appearance and especially kept his spikes in mind as it meant she couldn't get around him. Not that it really mattered with her battle style. She had learned to always inspect her opponent and take in everything that was relevant to a battle.

She had seen the ritual before so she knew what to do. She walked to the middle and put her tail up in a sort of defensive stance towards the adult fire dragon.

The dragon signed and lowered his tail to get down to her level. He seemed annoyed that he had to fight an 13 aged dragon instead of an adult.

"Don't worry little hatchling I won't cause you pain" He whispered in a soothing tone although Ember knew perfectly he meant it as an taunt.

"I'm more worried about you mister Celsus" Ember whispered back before nodding and returning to her original position.

She calmed her soul and unleashed to fire inside of her. Having practiced a couple of times today already so her body was already warmed up so it was easy to summon it.

"Get set, ready" Cyril shouted but Ember paid it no attention. The only thing that mattered now was her inner fire.

"Fight!" Ember finished activating her power just in time and opened her eyes and turned her attention back to the battle at hand.

* * *

Celsus rushed at her and then lashed out with his claw he obviously was thinking that he could easily knock her around.

Ember didn't move a muscle and although she could see his entire attack she didn't do a single thing to defend herself.

When he had hit her the crowd heard a loud squeal but the big surprise was that it wasn't from Ember.

Celsus squealed in pain and looked gaspingly at his paw. The paw was even redder than normal and felt very sore. It had been seriously burned and was still smouldering.

Ember drew an evil smirk as she ran up to him and jumped into him. Looking much like a little hatchling burying her head into her daddy in a hug.

"AAAH!" Celsus screamed his lungs out and when Ember jumped away she could see a picture of herself burned into his chest.

"Are you going to come at me already or what" She said taunting and she took a step towards him.

Celsus backed away from her looking very scared.

Celsus breathed a stream of hot flames at her and Ember got hit right in the chest because again she wasn't defending herself.

However Celsus jaw fell open as Ember simply walked out of the flames. Totally unshaved and not even making a sound, it looked like to her the flames weren't even there.

"Is that the best you can do?" Ember said throwing her head on the side and smirking with retreated lips to reveal her fangs. This gave Ember a look like she insane and pure evil.

Celsus took another step back and launched a powerful fireball at the monstrous little pink dragoness.

Ember took the fireball head on. She got a small push from the blast wave but the heat of the fire was far to low to hurt her.

She took another step towards Celsus who took another step back looking in disbelief that his fire attacks didn't have any effect on her at all.

Ember then sneered and barked and growled at him spitting up saliva.

Celsus now started to gasp in fear and helplessness. He breathed an enormous stream of fire at her; this was clearly the most powerful attack he had.

However although there was a lot more fire, it wasn't any hotter than the last attack so Ember still didn't feel a thing.

She kept walking slowly up to him and didn't even seem to notice the flames that completely surrounded her.

To further scare him Ember chuckled very evilly and showed Celsus her paw while she made a sizzling sound reminding him of what would happen if she put that paw on him.

Celsus took another step back but now was backed up against the wall with no way to escape from the untouchable and invincible dragoness.

Ember took another step towards him and Celsus stared down at her. Scared to death by a little pink dragoness that wasn't even a quarter of his size.

Ember took yet one more step towards him and now was standing less than two metres in front him. She was still making a sizzling sound and was having a look of pure evil in her eyes.

Seeing that there was no way out Celsus put his claw at his own throat, surrendering the match to Ember.

* * *

"And the Winner is the Queen of Burns Ember" Cyril shouted although a bit of awe was audible in his voice.

The entire crowd was silent as Ember retreated her energy back inside the core of her body and walked out of the arena.

"What? What? What was that?" The earth dragon asked her as soon as he got the chance.

"That's a secret" Ember sneered as she walked away.

She got to the main hall that functioned as a break room and laid down on one of the dragon couches.

"Wow Ember that was awesome" Ember looked and saw Georga walking up to her.

"Yeah, it went pretty well for the first real time" Ember said as sometimes the move could still go wrong.

Ember had actually been a little bit nervous that maybe under the pressure of the crowd her fire move might explode again as it had done before but luckily that didn't happen.

"Yeah you looked very scary in that arena for sure" Ember now spotted a strange looking red dragon appear behind Georga.

"Sorry but do I know you?" Ember asked as the dragon did look familiar somewhere.

He strongly reminded her of her best friend Flame but she could see it wasn't him.

"Why don't you come along Ember and I will introduce you to him" Georga said very joyful.

Ember had no idea what Georga found so amusing but she just followed her and waited for it.

Georga let them out of the crowd and up a staircase.

Suddenly Ember recognized it as the staircase that went up to Spyro's and Cynder's room.

"Wait Georga, we aren't allowed up here" She said.

"Nah, don't worry about it" the red dragon assured her.

Ember felt a bit odd but followed the pair up the stairs nonetheless.

* * *

When Ember of the stairs had reached the top she spotted the door already open and followed Georga inside before settling down.

"So why do we need to be here?" Ember asked, she looked at the new dragon who only sneered.

"Ember I would like you to meet Spyro" Georga said grinning.

"Spyro!" Ember shouted in surprise.

"A pleasure" Spyro said before nodding to her grinning as well.

"Why? Why is this?" Ember asked not getting it. Now that she knew it was Spyro she also recognized him but that he was red instead of purple didn't make any sense.

"I just wanted to walk around" Spyro said.

"Huh? And what do you mean by that?"

"Well Cynder and I never can just walk around in a place like this because we are so famous" Spyro said clearly not happy with that fact.

"Since the problem is that I am the purple dragon I just guessed the solution is for me to become a different colour"

"Wait a minute; is this the favour you had to do for him Georga?" Ember asked her as she suddenly remembered that Cynder was a bit clumsy. She had hung up posters with her a few days before and Cynder didn't have the dexterity to do it.

"That's right, we figured red would be the best choice since there are so many fire dragons around" Georga said.

"But what was that what you did back there?" Spyro asked very intrigued.

Now it was Ember's turn to smirk "That's secret"

"Come on Ember just tell us" Georga urged.

"Secret" Ember said drawing the same evil face as during the battle.

Apparently Georga and Spyro gave up and shifted their mind to other business.

"So Ember I'm sure you are going to watch the matches again now" Georga said to her sounding rhetorically.

"Well, yes but why do you say that?" Ember asked thinking that Georga's tone was very strange.

"Well Flame's battle is up very soon" Spyro pointed out.

"What Flame?" Ember exclaimed.

"Yes so want to watch his battle?" Georga rhetorically asked her.

"Of course" Ember said as she already headed out of the room.

Ember ran through the crowded citadel and got to her position, Spyro and Georga were hurrying to catch up.

They spotted an empty spot in the stands for young dragons and quickly settled down.

A battle was going on between two adult male fire dragons but Ember didn't really pay it much attention.

She looked around and spotted Cynder sitting in the honour seat box. She appeared to be looking at them.

"Does Cynder know about it" Ember whispered to Georga.

"Of course she does" Georga whispered back making sure no one would hear it "Do you really think we could fool her with such a lame disguise"

"Good point there" Ember whispered.

"And the winner is hell fire Dareat" The voice of Terrador shouted.

"Why is it constantly another one?" Ember asked Spyro.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Another guardian" Ember pointed out.

"They rotate the shift of referee" Spyro explained "A tournament day lasts for 12 hours starting from 8 o'clock. The shifts last for 2 hours. Terrador takes the first, then Volteer and then Cyril and then they do it all over again"

"I get it" Ember said.

"Now the Inferno king Flame will face the Explosion Breath Soara"

The gates opened and Ember spotted an adult female fire dragoness walk out into the ring.

She was of quite a heavy build for a dragoness and had a lot of muscle. However it was nothing remarkable and she looked pretty plain. Ember knew she was an opponent that Flame could handle with ease.

Ember shifted her view to the other side of the arena but to her surprise she didn't spot Flame anywhere.

"Inferno King Flame?" Terrador said a bit surprised that Flame hadn't appeared yet.

Then Flame slowly appeared and walked into the ring. He appeared very timid and scared.

His head spun around the arena and all his attention seemed to be on the crowd.

"I was afraid of this" Georga said to Ember.

However Ember didn't reply and Georga didn't say it again.

Suddenly Flame stopped before he had reached the middle of the arena.

He stood idle while he seemed plunged in thought.

Soara already had her tail into the right position for his small size and was waiting.

"You are supposed to greet your opponent" Terrador said to the frightened fire dragon after he hadn't moved for a while.

"Ye-ye-ye-ye-yes s-s-s-sir" Flame stuttered as he walked into the middle of the ring and put his tail up.

The large adult female dragon collided her tail with his knocking him over on his side.

The entire crowd laughed at the little fire dragon getting knocked over by only the greet.

"Oh no" Ember muttered and she slammed her front paw against her face.

Flame took quite a long while before getting back up and nodded to the fire dragoness and with a bit of a puzzled look in her eyes the dragoness did the same.

"Ready, get set" Terrador shouted.

Flame cringed in to almost hatchling size and although Ember couldn't hear it from so far away, she knew that he was making hatchling squeaking sounds as well.

"Fight!" Terrador said although it didn't sound as impressive as usual as he was a bit thrown off by the fire dragon's demeanour.

* * *

The fire dragoness started quickly and breathed a stream of fire at Flame.

Flame nervously looked around the crowd so he was hit right in the chest by the fire attack.

Flame slowly rose up but his opponent had already started firing fire balls at him and he took hit after hit and squalled from the blasts, not paying any attention to the battle.

"Come on Flame, fight back!" Ember shouted.

The dragoness didn't wait for him to get back up and quickly rushed over to him.

The crowd started to boo him and shout at him. They were clearly not pleased by that Flame was not battling.

Ember knew it was over for now when Flame looked at her. Ember saw nothing but a timid and frightened dragon in those eyes. There was no strength in his gaze. And with the crowd like that it would be impossible for Flame to pull himself together.

As expected the fire dragoness grabbed him in her paws and put her jaws around his neck.

* * *

"The winner is explosion breath Soara!" Terrador shouted.

Flame ran crying out of the arena totally embarrassed and humiliated.

Ember knew what to do and took to the skies to the place she knew he was heading.

Nobody paid it much attention as the next fight was already underway. Also Georga and Spyro didn't follow her. This was her job to take care of.

Ember flew to the middle of town and landed in front of a large squire shaped building and just waited in front of the door.

Suddenly a very scared fire dragon came flying up to her just like she had expected.

"Flame what in the name of the ancestors was that back there?" Ember scolded at him while she moved so that she blocked the way for him.

"Please just let me through Ember" Flame begged.

"No way, you are coming along with me!" Ember put on a very grievous tone.

Flame's weak will broke easily and he submissively followed her into an alley so that Ember could speak with him without being interrupted.

* * *

"What were you thinking back there!" Ember scolded.

"I, just, well the crowd" Flame stammered.

"That fight was pathetic Flame!" Ember kept scolding at him

"Sorry that was just all I could do" Flame whimpered.

Ember now smacked him with her tail appendage "You and I both know you can do way better than that!"

"Ember you" Flame started to cry a little.

"Well… come on, are you just going to stand there take this or are you going to do something?" She said angrily.

"Ember do you…?" Flame still was at a loss of words.

"Come on Flame, I am challenging you now so bring it on" Ember said giving him a hard push with her horns to try and provoke him.

"I just don't…" Flame whimpered.

"Want to fight?" Ember finished for him "Well I do so I guess you better start defending yourself"

Flame started to spread his wings to try and escape but Ember jumped on him and knocked him on his back.

"Well come on now" She urged but he still didn't fight back.

Flame was struggling underneath her but since Ember knew that Flame had far more strength than she did she wasn't impressed by it.

She jumped off of him and started to bark at him as he gaspingly got to his feet.

"Well Flame ready to fight already?" She asked him.

"Ember why…?" Flame's response answered the question for her.

"Come on Flame! Do something!" Ember demanded.

"Ember why?" Flame asked again.

Ember now decided to raise the pressure on him further and shot a low powered fireball at him. Just words didn't seem to be enough now.

Flame got hit in the chest and fell from his feet and again on his back.

"Flame! What are you doing?" Ember shouted at him "I know such an attack means nothing to you"

"But Ember you can't expect me to…" Flame whimpered.

Ember had no patience for it and smacked his head with her tail again.

Flame rubbed against his burning cheek, he couldn't believe that Ember was acting so hostile towards him.

"You should be ashamed of that display you gave" Ember shouted "That antic wasn't even worth my time watching"

"I just lost it there okay!" Flame shouted back now starting to get angry himself.

"Well Flame this time there is no crowd. So go on and strike"

"But Ember why?" Flame demanded.

Ember didn't reply and got to her battle stance awaiting an attack.

"Come on Flame. Do it!" She demanded.

"I…"

"Now!" Ember shouted at him.

With tears in his eyes Flame did as Ember requested and launched a fireball at her.

Ember was hit on the head but she was expecting it and it was very low powered so she didn't even fall down.

"Now was that really so difficult?" She asked.

"You don't understand Ember, that crowd, all those eyes" Flame stammered.

"You just have to see through that Flame. I too was intimated by the crowd at first but the spectators don't matter"

"But what if I mess it up. You were in that crowd and you saw how they reacted" Flame said.

"And why do you care about that? I didn't boo you and what do you care what a couple of random dragons might think of you?" Ember said.

"I, just…"

"Come on Flame, you have already lost one match. If you lose another one your chance at the tournament will be gone" Ember walked another step towards him and now looked him straight in the eye.

"Are you a tough fighter or are you a weenie lizard?" She asked while standing less than one meter away from him.

"I'm no lizard" Flame whimpered.

"Sorry but I didn't hear you" Ember said although she was standing right in front of him.

"I'm no lizard" Flame said a little louder.

"I can't hear you" Ember said encouraging.

"I'm no lizard!" Flame now shouted.

"Good, very good Flame so what does it matter what some dragons might think about you? Once they see you in action they will cheer you on for curtain" Ember said encouraging.

"You really think so Ember?" Flame asked hopeful, he was starting to cry again.

"Of course Flame, remember the first time you fought while really going for it?" Ember said hoping to further encourage him.

"Sure do" Flame recalled him fighting and emerging victorious in a battle with a large bully that always picked on him.

"So remember him and picture him as your opponent every time you start to have stage freight again" Ember suggested.

"I'll try Ember" Flame replied.

"That's the spirit Flame" Ember smiled at him. She brought her tail to his cheek once again but now she was gently rubbing it. Helping to sooth the pain a little from her smacks.

"Sorry Flame but I really have to get home now so I hope that I will watch a real match tomorrow okay?" Ember asked as she took a step back and spread her wings.

"You will Ember" Flame replied as Ember flew away.

* * *

Flame's orphanage was close to her home so Ember reached it very quickly.

"Mom, I'm home" Ember shouted.

"Just in time" Her mother's voice sounded sternly.

Ember held her breath in fear.

"But still in time" Her mother appeared with the dish of food.

Ember signed relieved that she wouldn't get another spanking.

She waited for her mother to put the dish down and only started eating after her mother had already begun.

"So won the match?" Her mother asked.

"Sure did" Ember chirped.

Her mother didn't ask anything more so Ember didn't do either.

The two never really talked much during meals. That was just not really their thing.

Once the food was gone her mother got to the book she was reading and Ember got to her room to play.

She could also train but she was too tired now for that now.

She struggled with some ropes and used that to entertain herself for the rest of the evening.

At 9:30 her mother walked into her room "Ember it's bedtime" she said clearly.

"Okay mom" Ember replied as she put away her ropes and laid down on her bed.

"Good night mom" She said before her mother had left the room.

"Good night Ember" Her mother replied.

Feeling both physically exhausted and mentally satisfied Ember quickly fell asleep.


	16. Childhood friends

**The Legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 16 childhood friends**

Georga was eating her breakfast together with Volt.

They were eating together from a fried boar with some spice.

"So going to do anything today?" Volt asked.

"Nothing special, just going to watch the tournament" Georga replied.

"Is Oxidus going to have a battle today?"

"Yeah, he has on half past six this evening" Georga said before taking another bite.

"How about Igüsa? I believed she entered as well" Volt said after swallowing another bite.

"Yes she has, but her battle is tomorrow"

Georga and Volt continued to talk about the tournament while eating their breakfast. Especially Igüsa was a major interest since she had spent her one allowed loss already.

After they had only just finished their breakfast Georga stood up "Let's go now! There is a battle I would really like to see"

"And what battle might that be?" Volt asked overly curious.

"The battle of Flame of course. I want to see if Ember had managed to knock any sense into him" Georga sneered as she made the second point.

"Huh, I don't get what you're saying. Ember knocked sense into him how do you know that?" Volt asked very confused.

"I have known Ember for a long time and she is a dragoness like me" Georga summed up and waited a few seconds before continuing "I can predict what she would do"

"Well off to the citadel then" Volt said while still not being able to follow Georga.

It was clearly girls business and Volt never understood Georga when she was talking about those matters so he didn't pursue it.

Volt and Georga had reached the citadel in about 15 minutes of flying and landed near the front gate.

As usual the citadel was packed with participants and spectators. Therefore getting around was difficult and they had to pay attention not to lose each other in the mass.

"When is that match again Georga?" Volt asked his powerful voice making him easy to hear.

Georga looked at the clock above the time-table before answering "Over 30 minutes it seems!" She answered and unlike Volt she had to shout to make herself audible.

"Any other matches you want to see?" Volt asked.

"I want to see Oxidus' match for sure but that one is at 6:30 this evening!" Georga answered.

"Let's see what's now" Volt muttered as he looked at the time-table.

"Ardorra versus Termoil, how about it Georga?" He asked.

"Sure!" Georga and Volt walked towards the honour box that Cynder had managed to arrange for them.

"Oh there the lizards are" Georga and Volt were greeted by the gruff tone of Blizzard.

"Always a pleasure" Volt replied sarcastically.

The honour box was a large square shaped elevation in the stadium. It was painted yellow and had enough room for about 8 adult dragons.

"Hi Georga enjoying it?" Frost walked up to them as usual ignoring his father's attitude.

"Sure am Frost" Georga chirped.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" The voice of Terrador indicated that the match had started.

Georga settled down on the ground and turned her eye to the battle going on below her.

Frost, not wanting to be standing alone walked up to her and settled down besides her.

Georga and Frost watched the match sitting side by side. Blizzard surely didn't like his son acting like that towards such a common dragoness like Georga but he couldn't say much about it in public.

Georga watched the match patiently and after about 8 matches she heard the one she was longing for.

"And now the Inferno King Flame will face the Meteor Inferno Magna" Terrador declared.

Georga spotted Flame walking into the arena still a bit shy but clearly not as insecure as yesterday. "Seems like Ember did her job well" Georga thought to herself as she turned her eyes to Flame's opponent.

It was a large female fire dragon again. This one was mostly large in height and wasn't as robust as the previous one. She had an orange coloured body with large amount of frills on it. However she had a pair of four very nasty looking horns and an arrowhead shaped tail appendix that even had sharp barbed layers. Georga could also see that this dragoness had very well developed muscles, not as big as the previous one but still equally as strong. She had some old burn marks on her scales that Georga recognised to have been from her own fire breath. Therefore she must be pretty experienced with fire. She looked like a very dangerous dragoness and could defiantly prove to be a tough opponent.

Flame walked up to the dragoness and now looked strong although there was still doubt visible.

"Have we missed anything?" Georga turned her head and spotted Spyro and Cynder hurrying into the honour box.

"No, it hasn't started yet" she assured them.

"Good" Cynder said looking out on Flame wondering if he would put up a fight this time.

Georga turned her eyes back to the young fire dragon in the ring because she was very anxious to see what Flame would do.

Flame and Magna collided tails and nudged like was normal and this time Flame kept his stance.

"Ready, get set" Terrador raised his wings "Fight!" He shouted as he slammed them down.

* * *

Magna was very quick to move and started to dash towards him with a very high speed. Her moves backed up her body; she was an experienced battler.

Flame braced himself but just one look at the crowd caused him to cringe again like last time.

Magna hit her mark and rammed him into the opposite wall of the arena.

Flame wheezed as he was squashed between the wall and the driving force of the dragoness.

She tried to get a grip on him with her front paw and make a win.

Flame struggled under the strong grip of the adult dragoness but he didn't put up much of a fight. It looked like the match was already over before it even started once again.

"Come on Flame!" Georga heard Ember shouting from the stances below her.

"Don't give up Flame, fight back!" Cynder now shouted next to her.

"Show her your power!" Georga shouted now joining the club.

Georga didn't know if Flame had heard them or not but he suddenly was a lot more feisty and was scratching and biting to get out of the grip of the dragoness.

Flame opened his mouth and out of it came one of the largest flames Georga had ever seen. The fire was easily ten times Flame's own size and completely engulfed the adult dragoness.

Magna screamed from the hot fire and released Flame who fell on the ground.

Flame stood idle for a few seconds taking in what he had just done before he moved again. In the meantime Magna was blowing the fire off of her using her wings.

Flame unleashed an extremely rapid barrage of low powered fireballs on the dragoness completely overwhelming her with explosions.

The fire balls came out of his mouth at a rate of what seemed like five per second and the sound of the explosions on the dragoness sounded like a volcanic eruption as the sound of the explosions merged because it their repetition. The energy released once again stunned the crowd as it was incredible that it all came from such a small dragon.

The dragoness quickly disappeared in the fireballs and all the smoke and dust from the bombardment. At first you could still see her resisting but she was quickly being overwhelmed by Flame's firepower.

Flame raced up to the dragoness while not stopping his fire ball assault. He only slightly slowed it down in pace because otherwise the recoil would throw him off-balance.

He kept firing and firing, his energy supply seemingly endless.

He only stopped firing after he was so close that if he did he would hit himself.

It was only then that the results of his assault became visible.

The dragoness wasn't moving at all. The overwhelming fireball assault had completely blasted away all the strength she had. Smoke was coming from all around her and she seemed like half dead. She wasn't really injured but totally exhausted.

Flame jumped up the neck of the exhausted dragoness and put his taildart at her throat.

"The winner is the Inferno King Flame" Terrador shouted.

Flame gasped and looked amazed at the cheers from the crowd.

He now walked out of the arena still looking a little timid but now also looking very proud of himself.

Georga turned and started to run out of the honour box.

"Ough" Georga wheezed as a powerful force on her back forced her to the ground.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Volt asked as he had used his tail blade to smack Georga down to the ground.

"To Flame, I wanted to compliment him" Georga said from her uncomfortable position on the floor stuck under Volt's tail.

"Volt!" Cynder yelled sounding shocked.

Volt lifted his tail blade up again "Fine then, go" He nudged.

Georga got back to her feet and ran out of the honour box.

After forcing her way through the crowd Georga had arrived at the right entrance and was waiting for Flame to appear.

"Is that normal?" Georga turned her head and saw that Cynder had followed her.

"Yeah just as normal as that smacking but he means well" Georga said smiling.

Cynder looked away still not feeling well about it.

Georga knew Cynder had a hard time believing that Volt hit her while he truly loved her but if whatever she could understand it or not wasn't Georga's concern.

Georga just turned her head back and she just spotted Flame appearing in the hallway.

"Hey Flame!" Georga shouted hoping he would spot her.

"Oh, Georga" Flame said very surprised.

"That was awesome what you did in there" Georga said with a deliberate awe in her voice.

"Well, it wasn't that great" Flame said very humble.

"It was awesome Flame" Georga now spotted the bright pink colour of Ember appearing from the crowd.

"Well thank you" Flame looked away and although he was bright red in colour Georga could see him blush.

"Well I think I will be going now" Flame said because as usual he didn't like being around females.

"Why so soon?" Georga asked a bit hurt to tease him.

"Um, will I, um, still have a lot of work to do!" He lied in panic.

"Hey Flame, mind if I keep you company?" Ember said with a raised voice to make herself audible over the crowd.

"Well, I, um" Flame stammered.

"Good, we will see you guys later okay" Ember said as she walked besides Flame and pushed him along with her using her wing.

"Okay, bye" Georga said and Cynder followed after her.

"Bye" Ember replied before disappearing into the crowd, Flame still under her wing.

* * *

"He needs to have a bit more confidence in himself you know" Cynder said to Georga.

"Yeah, but he has been like that ever since I know him so I guess that's just him" Georga said while they were walking back to the honour seat, it was a lot easier now that Cynder was walking by her side since everyone now gave them space.

"Ember is the only one who can make him do things. That's the way it is and that's the way it has always been. Nobody other than her can make him do things that he has doesn't believe he can"

"How do long you know Flame anyway?" Cynder asked.

"I've known him since he was 9, then he moved into the orphanage who during that time was still only a few blocks away"

"How about Oxidus?" Cynder asked when they had almost reached the honour box again.

"Let's talk about that later" Georga said not wanting to talk about it right now.

Cynder didn't say anything more and just walked up to Spyro and continued to watch the matches with him.

Seeing Spyro and Cynder together really made Georga think about Oxidus.

"I wonder when I can do that again" Georga thought as she imagined Oxidus standing next to her watching the matches with the fiery passion and enthusiasm that she was so fund of seeing from him.

"Oxidus" Georga unintentionally smiled warmly at the thought of sharing it with him.

He was standing next to her gasping a little from his excitement. Georga moved a bit closer to him, his bright fire energy feeling very warm on her green scales. Oxidus was really enjoying the match and also enjoying her. She enjoyed it as well, she felt so at ease when he was with her. His infinite energy seemed to be radiating from him and she felt like she was absorbing it. He would give her all the strength she would ever need in her life and he would also give her the peace she needed when she was troubled. The best friend she could ever wish for.

"Georga, you okay?" Spyro asked.

"Huh? Um, sure, I'm fine" Georga stammered as she snapped out of her fantasy.

"Looks like she was on the other side of the world if you ask me" Sparx said from next to Spyro.

Georga was very surprised because when she looked the dragonfly, she also spotted two more dragonflies behind him. A blue male and a pink female, something inside of her said that they were a couple. Now that she thought of it she hadn't seen Sparx by Spyro's side for a couple of days now.

Georga decided just to ask it "Hey Sparx, where have you been? And who are those with you?"

"Well these are my foster parents Georga, Sparx had left to go and get them to watch the tournament with us" Spyro answered before Sparx had the chance as he would most likely make some kind of sarcastic remark and they couldn't have that in public.

"Foster parents?" Georga said very surprised, by having a foster parent of her own it was very weird to imagine Spyro having dragonflies filling in that role.

"Hallo there Georga" The pink dragonfly said kindly.

"Um, hallo" Georga said back still a bit confused by saying hallo to a dragonfly.

"We even have bugs into the honour box!" Blizzard exclaimed as he spotted the couple himself now.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two my name is Frost" Frost said quick before his father could do any more damage.

Sparx parents look at each with a bewildered face not getting the situation.

"Don't even try" Sparx warned before his parents a chance to ask him a question "You will never be able to understand them. I have been around dragons for more than three years now and I still don't get them"

"Okay then" The blue dragonfly said after a while "A pleasure Frost" he said hoping to end the awkward conversation.

Blizzard gave one last snort before turning his eyes back to the match.

Georga also turned her attention back to the match seeing that the talk was over.

* * *

After another 12 matches Georga had seen enough "Volt, I'm going now, okay?" She asked not wanting to be smacked against the floor again.

"Where are you going to? Home?" Volt asked as he turned to look down at her.

"To Ember okay?" Georga said it more as a notion than as a question. Volt rarely objected when she was going out to play.

"Okay" Volt said as he turned his eyes back to the match.

Georga got out of the citadel and took to the skies.

"Wonder if Ember is home" Georga thought as Ember had volunteered to escort Flame back home but she hadn't said what she would be doing afterwards.

"Ah, if she isn't home than I will just go back to Volt" Georga thought as she almost reached her destination.

She landed on the streets and walked up to the door. She tapped on the door with her talons like normal and waited for someone to open it.

After a few minutes the door opened and revealed a pink dragoness standing in the hallway.

"Oh, Hallo Georga, what are you doing here?" Ember asked.

"I just had gotten enough of all the battles and I wanted to ask if you would like to play together" Georga said as Ember always was in a mood to play and she rarely had any obligations.

"Okay then, well come on in" Ember said as she sidestepped.

"Who is it Ember?" Wilmfe asked from somewhere in the house

"It's Georga mom, can she come and play?" Ember shouted back.

"Fine!" Wilmfe shouted not putting in the effort to show herself.

Georga signed, Ember's mother had always been so distant and uninterested. Volt always kept a very close eye on all Georga's moves. Sometimes that was annoying but Georga knew he only did it because he was concerned about her and loved her.

The two dragonesses didn't say anything more to Ember's mother and walked up to her room.

Georga also spotted Ember's naughty corner being easy to see with it clear red letters. Ember had told Georga all about the naughty corner and Georga had always felt pity for Ember that she was spanked.

However she erased it from her head as to not bring down her mood.

When they had reached her room Ember picked up her favourite toy: her strangle ropes.

"Well?" She asked her friend with the one end of the ropes in her mouth.

"Okay" Georga said, the ropes had always been Ember's favourite and they had played with it very often.

Ember took one end in her mouth and Georga took the other end. The majority of the rope was still curled up on the floor.

Then Ember jumped over Georga and ran around her trying to bind her with the rope.

However Georga was not going to let that happen and jumped out while she tried to intercept Ember and tie up her with the rope instead.

The two girls continued to play with Ember's ropes for about an hour before putting them away.

"Hey Georga want to practice?" Ember asked.

"Um, well" Georga thought about it, Ember's special ability looked very scary yesterday.

"Okay then, but you keep your little _secret_ off!" Georga said saying the word 'secret' very emphasized and very dry.

"Okay then" Ember sighed but Georga could see she was hiding a smile.

"Let's go to the dojo" Georga offered while they were walking towards the front door of the house.

"Sounds good" Ember stopped now "Mom! Georga and I are going to the dojo to practice!" She shouted.

"Okay!" Ember's mother still didn't show her face.

"Let's go then" Ember said joyfully

Wilmfe spanked her and acted coldly and distant to her and still it didn't seem to bring Ember down at all. Georga really admired Ember that she could still keep up such a positive attitude with a mother like Wilmfe.

Because Ember's house is so close to the central square the two dragonesses decided to walk instead of fly.

"So Ember what did you do to Flame?" Georga asked as they were walking through the empty streets.

"I just put a bit of pressure on him" Ember sneered using a mysterious tone.

"And how did you do that" Georga asked in the exact same tone.

"Secret" Ember chirped.

Georga snarled "Come on Ember, enough with the secret things" she said very annoyed.

"Secret" Ember chirped again.

Georga let out a deep sign as Ember was not willing to talk.

By now the two girls had reached the dojo and walked inside.

The inside looked like a small gathering room. It was plain yellow coloured and had a number of curtains who apparently lead to the various training grounds. Georga had been here before and it all looked familiar to her.

Georga and Ember looked around and spotted an ice dragon walking from one room to another.

"Excuse us" Georga addressed the dragon before he was away.

The dragon stopped and turned to look at them "What is it?"

"We wondered if we could use one of the training rooms?" Ember asked.

"Sure, just take that one" The ice dragon nudged towards the training room that was on the left side before continuing on his way.

"Thanks" Georga and Ember replied in unison as they walked towards the room and entered.

The training room was a square shaped room with a large blue circle painted on the floor. There was a small stage in front where the teacher was supposed to stand. The walls were painted in white and the room was large enough to hold about 30 dragons.

"Hey this is-" Georga thought as the room seemed very familiar to her. It was the same room as where Oxidus gave his lessons.

"Oxidus" Georga thought about her best friend again.

"Georga, let's go" Ember urged anxious to begin.

"Right" Georga nudged not having the time to think about her lost friend.

The two dragonesses stood on either side of the training room glaring at each other.

"1, 2, 3, go!" Ember shouted as she launched at Georga.

Georga tried to sidestep but Ember was too fast and knocked her down on the ground on her back with Ember on top of her holding her down.

Georga tried to push her away put Ember was too strong for her. Georga rarely battled while Ember was a seasoned fighter. It was obvious that Ember was much stronger than Georga.

Georga used an earth shot on Ember what blasted her off of her.

Ember recovered extremely fast and fired a fireball at Georga while she was still flying from the force of Georga's earth missile.

The fireball hit Georga on her belly because she was still lying down on the ground.

Georga squealed as the burning hot fireball was on her soft belly and she quickly jumped away.

"I'm sorry" Ember exclaimed as she saw Georga in pain and quickly ran over to her "Is it bad?"

"Nah, but try do take it easy, okay Ember?" Georga asked getting to her feet again to assure Ember.

"Okay" Ember said glad to see that her friend wasn't hurt.

This time Georga took the offensive and slammed her tail into the ground. The shockwave caused the earth to move in a sort of circular wave away from Georga and into the direction of Ember. It looked like the solid ground itself had turned into liquid water. This was Georga's signature move: the earth ripple.

However Ember flapped her wings to jump and dodge it, it was very simple to avoid for a dragon.

Georga now suddenly shot a high speed earth missile towards Ember and Ember didn't have enough time to manoeuvre away. She was hit on her belly and smacked against the wall.

However Ember was a tough dragon and could take a hit like that easily. She recovered her stance using her wings before she even fell down and landed on all four.

Ember now fired a steady stream of fire towards Georga.

Georga used an earth bolder to protect herself from Ember's fire attack. Hoping it would protect her.

However Ember's attack was so strong that Georga was roasted inside the boulder like it was an oven. It was bad enough within but surely agonizing out, what to do?

Ember continued her steady stream of red hot flames that engulfed the boulder, barely using any energy at all. She could keep this up for hours if she needed.

Georga on the other hand was struggling with the searing heat inside of her earth globe while she was desperately thinking of something that she could do.

Fighting against the soaring heat inside her rock tomb Georga gathered all her energy for one final attack. She managed to unleash another earth ripple with her tail and the boulder was blasted to pieces from the inside sending chucks of super heated rock flying in every direction.

Ember tried to dodge the incoming shards but was hit by one that caught her wing. She toppled over and lay on her side screaming in pain.

"Ember!" Georga rushed over to her friend to see what was causing Ember so much pain.

She quickly found the culprit, a shard that was sent flying had ripped away part of Ember's right wing.

Georga knew the place very well since she had been here often with Oxidus. Therefore she knew where to find the healing crystals and quickly rushed over to the teacher stage. Once she was there Georga grabbed a drawer with her mouth and shove it open revealing a bunch of already smashed red crystals.

Hearing Ember's shouts of pain Georga hastily picked a paw full of crystal in her left paw and rushed back to Ember.

The already smashed shards flew up into Ember's wing and the tear in her wing healed quickly.

"Thanks Georga" Ember said as she got up again, the wound completely healed.

"That's what friends are for right" Georga said smiling.

"Yeah, I think this is enough for today" Ember said.

Georga didn't have any objections to that and the two dragonesses walked out of the dojo to head back home.

Once they were back at Ember's home Georga said goodbye to Ember and got back to the citadel to go and pick up Volt. She was starting to get a bit hungry now.

* * *

After Georga had flown to the citadel and forced her way through the crowd she arrived in the honour box again.

Frost and his father had already left and many other dragons had done as well. Only 5 still remained.

"Hey Volt" Georga said to make Volt notice her.

"So was it fun?" Volt asked as he turned to look at her.

"Yeah. But I am kinda hungry now" Georga said overly suggestive.

Volt signed "Okay, let's go to the kitchen"

"Yeah let's" Sparx said now joining as well.

"Can we come along too?" Spyro asked to be polite.

"Sure you can" Georga said and the dragons all walked to the kitchen together.

They ordered their meals and talked as they ate.

Volt had taken another table for adult dragons and was talking to a fire dragoness a few tables back. The young dragons had managed to conquer one of the five young dragon tables in the room where they now ate. Sometimes other dragons came who wanted to join because they wanted to be near Spyro and Cynder. However they sent everyone away and before long the other dragons didn't bother them anymore.

"So, enjoying the tournament so far Georga?" Spyro asked as he took a bite from his boar.

"Sure am, though it is starting to get a bit repetitious" Georga answered.

"Don't worry, when the preliminaries are over all battles will be flashy and special" Cynder assured her.

"Why do you say that?" Georga asked before taking her next bite.

"Well only the best half will go on and those will each have their own battling style" Cynder answered.

"Hey, Spyro where are you foster parents?" Georga asked as the two dragonflies were gone but Sparx was still around.

"They couldn't stomach it to watch this action so they bailed out" Sparx answered as if the question was asked to him instead of Spyro.

Spyro growled at Sparx for speaking like that about his parents but Sparx didn't seem impressed by it.

"They didn't like so much fighting so they went to explore the dragon city together instead" Spyro answered to Georga.

"Hallo there, would you mind if I join" Georga saw a cheetah that she remembered as Hunter walk up to them carrying a plate of food in his paws.

"Sure Hunter you can join" Spyro said very friendly as he moved aside to allow the cheetah to sit next to him.

Hunter folded his legs in a lotus pose to get down to the young dragons height.

He put his dish on the table and started eating with them.

It was very strange to see the large cheetah like that on the young dragons table but nobody laughed at it.

"Hey Hunter" Spyro started "Why are only you, Meadow and Bianca here?"

"Chief Prowles only allowed three to go. Since I was the one who got your invitations I was going for sure and Prowles then said that I could pick two others to come with me" Hunter answered.

"I can understand it in the case of Meadow but why that other cheetah?" Cynder asked.

"Hmmm, could she be-" Sparx drew out his sentence suggestively.

Hunter sighed and rubbed his head before answering "Yeah she is" He answered.

"Wow Hunter, we never knew you had a mate" Cynder said very surprised with a bail of meat dangling from her mouth.

"Yeah, well could you keep it down please" Hunter still sounded calm and polite but in his face it was clear that he didn't want to speak about that thing in public.

"Sure lover-boy" Sparx grinned.

Cynder smacked him with her tail blade as just a growl from Spyro didn't impress Sparx last time.

Georga chuckled at the sight before returning to her meal.

* * *

Georga looked at the crystal clock and saw that it indicated 5:55.

"Hey Volt!" Georga shouted to her guardian.

Cynder and Spyro both looked at her a bit angry.

Volt gave Georga a punitive glare back for shouting in public like that but walked up to her nonetheless.

"Let's say we go back to watch the matches" Georga suggested.

"No, I've seen enough fire dragons for one day" Volt said having a stern look on his face.

"But the match of Oxidus is soon" Georga insisted putting on a sad face to try and break him.

Volt seemed not able to choose what to do so it took him some time before he spoke again.

"I will stay here until just before the match and I will join you then" He said.

Georga smiled but sneered in reality because this time she had been able to overtop Volt.

"Wait Volt" Something suddenly occurred to Georga "I was going to watch the match together with Ember so I won't be in the honour box"

"Oh, well then um" Volt was reconsidering his options "Well since I can't join you anyway that means I am going home now"

Georga now clenched her teeth as Volt now overtopped her. Why did she have to add that sentence! It didn't really matter but Volt defeated her in this small battle nonetheless.

"Hey Hunter" Spyro said.

"Yes?"

"Could you come to our room and do a little favour for us?" Spyro asked the cheetah.

"I don't see why not. But what is it?"

"We'll tell you in our room okay" Cynder now said.

"Okay then" Hunter still sounded anxious to know.

"We'll see you later okay Georga" Cynder said to her friend.

An idea of what the two dragons were asking Hunter quickly formed itself in Georga's mind "Okay, later" She walked off towards the young dragon stands. If she was right she would find out very soon.

The stands for young dragons were around the honour box to provide them with a clear view of the arena. Whelplings were with the adults in the adult stands.

Georga reached them quickly as they were close to the kitchen and settled down.

"Well, well, Georga it's been far too long" A masculine but still female voice said sarcastically behind her.

Georga stiffened; there was only one dragoness who had such a masculine voice.

"Yeah, very long indeed Flannery" Georga said superficial without turning to look at her. This was not true as Georga had seen Flannery plenty of times recently.

"Do you actually think he can beat me?" Flannery said mockingly obviously talking about Oxidus.

"I know he can battle circles around the likes of you Flannery" Georga shot back still looking forward.

"Still into him I see" Flannery mocked.

Georga did not respond to that comment.

"Although he never notices you" Flannery added taunting.

Georga had to clench her teeth and growled but she managed to remain stationary.

"Hallo Georga" This time Georga did look as Ember now joined her and laid down by her side.

"Oh yeah, hey Flannery" Ember said just as cheerful.

"Hallo Ember" Flannery said emotionless.

Unlike Georga, Ember didn't seem annoyed by Flannery at all and just sat down next to Georga still looking happy.

Georga once again was amazed at Ember that nothing seemed to be able to break her mood.

The three girls watched the match that was underway while they waited for Oxidus his match to begin.

When the time had almost arrived Georga turned as she heard a voice behind her.

"Hallo there" Georga spotted a male fire dragon and a female ice dragon enter the young stands.

The fire dragon had a bright red colour, orange wings and yellow horns.

The ice dragoness had aqua blue scales, magneta wings and belly and light blue horns.

"Hi, he did a good job I see" Georga said as they looked very convincing. Georga knew them very well so she wasn't fooled by it.

"You look very nice as well" Ember said kindly to the light blue female.

"Well thank you" The female said kindly.

They rested down on the stands next to Ember.

"And now Volcano Master Oxidus will face Lava Spirit Meltor" Volteer declared standing in the middle of the ring.

Georga now saw Oxidus enter the ring. The sight hurt her deeply; Oxidus was looking empty and still depressive. He was about to battle it out in a tournament that Georga knew would have been a dream come true for the old Oxidus. This cold and emotionless Oxidus sent shivers down her spine. He still looked strong and confident but not energetic or determined as Georga was used to.

Georga turned her eyes towards Oxidus' opponent just so that she could look at something else.

Meltor was a very large bright red fire dragon who was about 63 years of age. He had a heavy build and looked quite tough. He obviously was a soldier and by the looks of it a powerful one.

Oxidus and Meltor walked towards the middle and collided their tails and nodded before returning to their original positions like was normal.

Oxidus got into his battle stance but he looked nothing like the high spirited dragon Georga was so hoping to see.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Volteer declared while slamming his wings down.

* * *

Oxidus moved the second Volteer had said 'Fight' and used a comet dash to fly at astronomical speed across the arena and hit Meltor straight in the chest.

A split second later Meltor slammed into the wall of the arena with tremendous force while he never got a chance to do anything.

Using the speed of his own attack Oxidus used the sudden stop to throw himself around and grab hold of his opponent.

Before anyone had an idea what was going on Oxidus had all four limps firmly around Meltor's neck and had his tail appendix at his throat. He had already won the match.

"The winner is Volcano Master Oxidus" Volteer declared obviously stunned by the instant win. Oxidus had won the match in less than 3 seconds.

* * *

"What in the name of-?" The blue dragoness exclaimed.

"Impressed?" Georga asked.

"I-I-I can't believe it. He won in like 1 second" the blue dragoness stammered.

"That was unbelievable!" the red dragon now said as well.

"So still thinking you can take him?" Georga asked smirking as she turned her head to look at Flannery for the first time.

"He's no match for the likes of me, just you wait and see!" Flannery shouted angrily while she got up and walked grumbling away.

Georga now also got up and followed Flannery. Not because she wanted to be with Flannery but because she wanted to talk to Oxidus while she still had the chance.

Unlike last time the Citadel wasn't so crowded anymore. Georga could now run and reached the right participants entrance fairly quickly.

She spotted Oxidus appearing and walked next to him.

"That was awesome Oxidus" Georga said excitably.

"It was nothing" Oxidus sounded bored.

"Well that was expected from the teacher advanced fire moves" Georga said as last time it had brought up Oxidus' pride.

This time however it didn't seem to work and Oxidus looked away.

"Come on Oxidus, aren't you proud of yourself?" Georga persisted.

"I don't have a battle tomorrow so I will stay at home" Oxidus said not answering her question.

Oxidus spread his wings causing Georga to back away from him a bit.

Oxidus flew away into the sky, still having the same cold aura around him and never showing the excitement that Georga was so longing of seeing from him.

"Oxidus" Georga whispered to herself.

Having seen enough Georga walked back to the stands and said goodbye to Spyro, Cynder and Ember.

Ember volunteered to accompany her back home but Georga refused, she wanted some time alone now. Because she already refused Cynder didn't ask it.

Georga flew back home and opened the door with her wing.

"So did Oxidus win?" Volt asked as he spotted Georga coming in. He sounded a bit rhetorically because Volt knew how powerful Oxidus was.

"Yeah, he won" Georga sighed.

"Something wrong?" Volt asked.

"Nope" Georga said while using so little energy moving her lips that it was barely audible.

"Okay then" Volt really sounded reluctant and a bit indecisive as well.

Georga read a book for the evening. However she barely read more than five pages in the three hours as her mind was never to it. Georga rarely read books. She mostly played with her toys in the evening. This time however was different as her mood was way too far down for her to play.

* * *

"Off to bed with you" Volt tried to sound strict but since Georga sadness hurt him deeply it sounded more like a request.

Georga didn't respond and just walked towards her room.

She stopped just before going through the curtain "Good night Volt" She said looking back smiling at the only family she had left.

"Good night Georga" Volt said softly as he walked to his own sleeping room.

Georga laid down on her bed and sighed, tired from the day.

Oxidus' depression was the one thing that she just couldn't get out of her head. When it started she just ignored it and hoped he would turn around. However it only seems to get worse and worse with each passing day rather than better.

Georga now looked at her doll that she had on top of her item box. It had been a huge relief to her when she found out the doll wasn't damaged when Cynder blew up her room.

It was a ceramic doll of a young earth dragoness who looked a lot like her. It was about 10 centimetres tall and 25 centimetres long. The dragon was sitting on its haunches while having a gleeful look on its face.

The doll was Georga's most valuable possession. It had cost only 11 gold pieces but for Georga it was priceless. For her it symbolized something that was of an incalculable value.

Georga suddenly was shocked as she felt a tear tickling her cheeks.

She quickly wiped it off and laid down on her bed.

The doll had brought the happy memories of him back up and in the trance of those Georga was quickly asleep.

"Gaius" She muttered in her sleep.


	17. childhood memories

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_I hope you guys understand the hide and seek game. If not then notice me._

**The Legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 17 childhood Memories**

A young female earth dragon was waking up from her sleep.

She yawned as she stretched her body to loosen her joints.

She was 9 years old and very thin in build. She had a large brown globe on the end of her tail that she could use to deliver painful smacks. However she was mostly kind and generous.

The dragoness yawned again as she looked outside

The sun was shining and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day although it was cold since it was the middle of winter.

The earth dragoness then looked to her side and saw a male earth dragon of the same age who was still sound asleep.

He was slightly larger than she was but only just. He also had a large brown boulder on the end of his tail. It looked a bit like the globe of the female but it was diamond shaped instead of round. He also had smaller horns than her but they still had the female's rim. His build was tall and slender just like the female. He looked a bit fragile for an earth dragon but he could still mostly hold is own in fights. However he looked more like a dolt now than anything else.

"Hey wake up there you lazy slacker!" She said as she gave him a poke with her shoulder.

"Huh? Please mate with me beauty" The earth dragon mumbled. He was still partially asleep and his eyes were narrow slits as they were still half covered by his eyelids. With his just half his sight he could only identify the object standing in front of him as a dragoness.

The dragoness growled with closed jaws and drew an annoyed face while she smacked him on his head with her tail globe.

"Au! Georga!" He cried as he rubbed his head. He was now fully awake and aware of who the dragoness was.

"I would keep my mouth shut about that if I were you" Georga warned.

"But that still hurt you know" The earth dragon complained.

"Hey be happy I did it, I think that you would be sleeping on your belly for ten days straight if Volt would have heard about it" Georga shot back.

"I would have heard what?" A thundering voice sounded as a large electric dragon appeared from behind the curtain.

"Um, that he was nagging about not having breakfast yet" Georga lied.

"Really?" Volt raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, man I'm starving" The earth dragon pretended hoping it would work since it wasn't as bad as the real thing.

"Okay then I will be at it but I don't want to hear a single nag from either of you understand!" He said sternly.

"Understand" Georga and the earth dragon replied in unison.

After Volt had left the male earth dragon signed "Thanks Georga I owe you one"

"You sure do Gaius and remember that I will let you pay for it" Georga said smirking.

"Georga" Gaius said a bit hurt.

"Sorry, live with it" Georga sneered.

"Come here you!" Gaius jumped at her and the two had a play fight in their room.

* * *

"Breakfast!" The voice of Volt sounded after some time.

"Yay!" The two young dragons ran excitably out of their room.

Volt had put down a large metal scale on the floor and the earth couple quickly ran over to it and began gorging themselves.

Volt stomped on the floor causing a hard blow and the floor to shake.

Georga and Gaius jumped up from the blow and looked up fearfully at their huge electric parent.

"You wait for older dragons to start eating before you start yourself" Volt scolded down at them.

"Yes Volt" The two whimpered, again almost in perfect unison.

Now the two dragons waited patiently for Volt to start eating and then some more minutes before starting themselves.

After the scale was empty Volt put it back and spotted Georga walking up to him.

"Can we go to Oxidus?" She asked.

"Sure, you two go ahead" Volt said now sounding warmer.

"Thanks Volt" Georga hugged his large leg before running back to Gaius.

"Let's go to Oxidus" She said cheerfully.

"Yeah and to Igüsa" Gaius replied.

"Can't you ever think about something other than dragonesses?" Georga asked rolling with her eyes.

"Nope" Gaius chirped.

"Let's go" She said annoyed.

"Okay"

The two dragons spread their tiny wings and prepared themselves. They ran on the ground to build up speed. When they had enough speed they jumped and took two the skies.

Dragons below the age of 10 often have problems flying because their wings are small in comparison with their bodies. They can't fly while stationary; they need to have sufficient speed in order to build up the lift necessary to fly.

The tiny couple reached an old decayed house after about 20 minutes of flying.

The tiny dragons circled around and lined up from the streets to use it as a runway for landing.

Georga dropped down and glided a few seconds over the streets. Then she decreased speed by changing the angle of her wings. She slowly glided down and the second she felt the ground she started to run.

Georga needed about five metres of street to come to a halt.

Just when Georga had stopped running she spotted Gaius running six metres further before finally standing still.

Georga had always been a better flyer than her brother and she had learned it earlier than him as well.

Georga waited for him to get back to her and the two now stood before the door.

They looked suggestively at each other and after a couple of seconds Gaius took the initiative and knocked on the door using his tail.

After a few minutes a large male electric dragon opened the door. He was slightly smaller than Volt was but still large. He had quite a number of battle scars and he looked very strong.

However the Georga and Gaius knew he was very nice and friendly.

"Good day Thundus" The tiny earth dragon twins said in unison.

"Georga!" An excited voice sounded from the home.

Thundus didn't speak but moved smilingly aside and let his son through while he ran up to Georga.

"Would you believe it? I'm going to have a-" He started.

"Oxidus" Thundus sounded punitive.

"Yes daddy" Oxidus replied.

"Why don't you come inside" Thundus said warmly.

Gaius and Georga looked very puzzled at each other while they entered the house.

"Hallo Georga, Gaius" A small red fire dragoness said with a warm voice. She was of a low build and had a heavy decorated body. Unlike normal fire dragons she had yellow frills on her chest. Unlike the male however she clearly was no fighter.

"Hallo Fuoca" The twins replied in unison once again.

"Why hi there Igüsa" Gaius said seductively when he spotted her laying half asleep on her bed.

Georga growled at him and he shut his mouth.

Igüsa was lying a bit curled up in her nest shaped bed. She was lying with her back facing them and because of that Georga could clearly see the blood on her bed. There was a large spot of dried blood around the where she was laying with her hips and it had dissipated somewhat so it was rather a bit vague.

Igüsa's smell was very strong in the room as well and that her brother acted seductively was no surprise to her.

It was a bit of a spicy smell and it felt very pleasant for a fertile male. However for a female and especially such a young one it is perceived as a horrible stench and Georga's nostrils narrowed instinctively.

Even though he was not fertile yet Gaius was still a male so the smell had a different effect on him.

The smell was already there for about a month so it didn't bother Georga that much anymore. When she looked further she saw that the bed of Fuoca didn't have blood on it anymore. This was strange because the last time she was here it still had. Dragons didn't bother cleaning it because it would be red again the next day so that was a pointless effort. So why was it clean now?

Also the hot scent of Fuoca seemed to be gone. Normally it was here as well mixing with the spicy scent of Igüsa. The two scents made it even more unpleasant so Georga was happy that it was gone but it still made her curious.

"Why is it gone?" Georga thought a bit confused.

"Why don't you young ones go and play now" Fuoca suggested breaking Georga's curiosity

"Okay mommy" Oxidus replied.

* * *

"3, 2, 1, 0! Who isn't gone is seen, I come" Georga shouted as she got up from Oxidus' bed and opened her eyes.

Oxidus and Gaius had disappeared and Georga began searching for them.

Georga looked around the house but made sure she never got too far from the buutplace.

She first walked around the only couch in the house to look but there was no one there.

She then went to the kitchen but she found no one there either.

"Buutfree!" Georga turned to see Oxidus lying on his bed like he was hugging something precious.

"Buutfree already?" Gaius appeared from behind Igüsa who was still sleeping despite all the dragons shouting and running around.

"Gaius!" Georga shouted doing her best to imitate Volt's punitive voice.

"What? What did I wrong this time?" Gaius protested very ignorant.

"Can you ever stay away from my sister?" Oxidus now joined Georga's side.

"Oh, I don't mind it" Igüsa said while she lifted up her head. She wasn't sleeping after all but was just slacking.

"Well Oxidus now it's your turn" Georga said looking at him and then at his bed that was the buutplace.

Oxidus laid down on his bed as he was now it. He covered his eyes with his paws and started counting "30, 29, 28, 27, 26-" He counted out loud.

Georga looked around the house in search of a good hiding place.

She spotted Gaius disappearing behind the couch and she quickly turned back to searching a spot to hide before Oxidus was done counting.

She ran out of the house and disappeared behind one of the bushes.

The branches of the bush pricked a little but the tough scales of a dragon could easily take that. It didn't hurt her at all, it just felt uncomfortable.

Oxidus' parents were still in the house but they didn't mind the little dragons running around. They just tried their best to do their business and stay out of the children's way.

* * *

"3, 2, 1, 0! Who isn't gone is seen, I come!" Georga heard Oxidus shouting.

She just stayed in the bushes hoping Oxidus' wouldn't spot her in there. She waited for a chance that she could outrun him and reached the buutplace first.

"Buut Gaius!" She heard after a few minutes indicating that Oxidus had found her brother.

Luckily for her Georga was jade green and brown so the bush camouflaged her very well.

She then noticed that Oxidus had walked in the garden and was checking the bushes one by one.

When he had reached the one Georga was hiding in she held her breath and hoped he wouldn't see her.

He apparently didn't spot her as he walked towards the next bush and searched for her there.

She waited for him until he was a few metres away from her and then she jumped out of the bush and raced towards Oxidus' bed.

"Hey wait you!" Oxidus yelled while he ran towards his bed as well trying to buut her.

However Georga's lead was far too great and she could make a buutfree before Oxidus had a chance to do anything.

Now it was Georga's turn again and the three dragons continued their hide and seek game for about an hour.

"Do you young ones want a snack?" Fuoca asked interrupting their game.

"Yeah!", "For sure!", "I'm starving" The small dragons all cheered.

The family was not very rich but still had enough food. They were given a shared bowl of meat that Fuoca had first cut into pieces. Georga would have preferred a Taviboah but she never got one with Oxidus.

The young dragons quickly jumped on it and started eating. The constant games had made them quite hungry.

When they were eating Georga and her brother rarely had problems with each other and neither did Oxidus so they ate in peace.

When they were finished Georga suddenly remembered something.

"Hey Oxidus? Ember told me she was going to play with a friend of her right about now. Why don't we go and join her?" Georga asked Oxidus but also Gaius.

"Yeah, she is the most charming one there is" Gaius said dreamingly.

Georga gave him a soft blow in his back with her tailglobe

Gaius coughed and knew it was an unwanted comment.

"So wanna go?" Georga asked again.

"For sure" Oxidus said after gorging down the last strip of meat.

"Mommy, can I go to with Georga and Gaius to go and play with the other dragons?" Oxidus asked his mother.

"Of course you can sweetie" Fuoca said kindly "Just be back before dinner"

"I will mommy" Oxidus said.

Georga giggled at Oxidus. Oxidus was adored and sometimes even feared by the other young dragons because of his unbelievable power. That he still called both his parents mommy and daddy sounded very funny.

"Igüsa, I want you to go with them and look after them" Fuoca ordered.

"Is she going to join me?" Gaius asked before getting another smack from Georga.

"Mwaaa, do I really have to?" Igüsa complained tiresomely lifting up her head.

"Yes Igüsa you have to" Fuoca ordered kindly but it also sounded very clear and refusing it sounded difficult.

Grumbling Igüsa stood up and walked up to the little dragons to escort them.

"Have fun" Thundus said to them as he joined his lifemate's side.

"Bye" Oxidus said to both his parents before running out of the house to joining up with Georga.

The young friends just walked to the playground instead of flying. Igüsa followed them but made sure to keep out of their way.

Flying was still a bit difficult for the young dragons so they didn't if it wasn't far. Especially Oxidus was a poor flyer because he had a very heavily build body.

"So what do you guys think? Did I make an impression on her?" Gaius asked looking back at the dragoness following them a few metres away.

"Oxidus, what was it you wanted to say before your dad cut you off?" Georga asked ignoring Gaius.

"I'm not allowed to tell anyone Georga" Oxidus said a bit sorry.

"Okay, fine then" Georga shrugged.

"Ember brought that new dragon with her yesterday" Georga said "What was his name again? Frame? Grame? Fame?"

"It was Flame" Gaius corrected with a smirk.

"Oh, yes Flame" Georga repeated.

The young dragons continued talking about their friends and before they knew it they had reached the playground.

"Hey Ember!" Georga shouted when she spotted her.

"Hey Georga! Come on up" Ember shouted back from on top of the wooden playhouse.

The whelpling Ember looked like the most innocent little dragoness you could imagine. Her light pink scales was very different from the darker colour of any other dragons. Her chubby cheeks, heart shaped tail appendix and overall rounded appearance made her just the cutest thing.

The climbing frame Ember was on was made of wood and stood about 3,6 metres high. It was a large wooden box with a few tiny holes into it that functioned as windows allowing it to look like a tiny house. Young dragons entered and exited the house through a small tunnel dug underneath. There was a steep slope on one side of the frame. The slope was littered with nodules and bumps. It was possible for dragons to climb up the slope but it was tough, what of course was the fun of it. There was also a slide on the box on the opposite site of the slope.

The climbing frame stood in a box of soft white sand. The playground was in a small square near the centre of the city of Warfang. The street right next to it was a large open space. It was often used as a battleground for sparring matches.

"I'll be right there" Georga shouted as she spread her tiny wings and jumped. In one fluid motion she was right next to her friend on top of the climbing frame.

Gaius looked green eyed towards her while he used the steep slope to get up. Gaius couldn't fly as well as Georga could nor was as fluid, agile and swift as she was.

The second Georga was on the wooden box Ember gave her a push with her horns and Georga understood the challenge right away. She pushed her horns against Ember's and the two dragonesses tried to push the other off the box.

Igüsa laid down a few metres from the sandbox. She kept an eye on their activities but never spoke or involved herself. She would only intervene if things got out of control. She would rather be doing something else now but she had done this very often.

In the strength contest on top of the climbing frame Ember finally got the upper hand and Georga was standing close to the edge.

Ember smirked as she prepared to give Georga the final push, using her large horns.

However Georga got to her hind legs and grabbed Ember by the horns as Ember rammed her.

They both fell off of the frame together and fell down into the sandbox below. Georga fell down on her back and Ember fell down on her belly on in a right angle on top of Georga.

"Georga, you okay?" Oxidus ran over to where the two girls where lying.

However he quickly saw them laughing and knew nothing was wrong.

"So where is your new friend?" Georga asked Ember while they were still lying on top of each other.

"Flame said that he had to finish his chore before he could come and play" Ember answered not moving from her position either.

Suddenly Georga rolled underneath Ember and the two dragonesses had a fierce wrestling match.

Oxidus was already excited by the tug war so he jumped in to join the fight.

Gaius jumped in from on top the climbing frame and the four dragons continued their play fight in the sand while Igüsa continued to watch and look for any reason that she might have to intervene.

* * *

"That's enough rough housing for now" Ember said as she got up and shook to remove the sand from her scales.

"Um, hallo" A weak voice said.

As she got up Georga spotted a strong looking brightly coloured fire dragon walk into the playground.

"Hi Flame, want to join in?" Ember asked gleeful like always.

"Um, I-" Flame took a step back looking a bit shy.

"Come on Flame" Georga urged as she shook the sand off.

"Well I rather get back" Flame stammered despite having just arrived.

Georga almost felt insulted by it and she nudged suggestively to Oxidus and her brother.

They nudged back indicating that they understood what she wanted.

Oxidus and Gaius ran towards Flame. Oxidus positioned himself on Flame's right side and Gaius on his left.

Flame quickly was switching his view back and forth from the dragons. He was clearly scared and shy.

"You're coming with us" Oxidus said very stern but Georga could clearly hear that he was laughing inside.

"Please let me go" Flame whimpered.

Ember stood idle for a time not knowing what to do with the situation. Since Ember was the only one who knew Flame well they waited for her to give instructions.

"Bring him over here boys, let's put him down the slide" She sneered evilly after making her decision.

Oxidus and Gaius bit into the wings of Flame on their respective sides and dragged him along.

Flame tried to resist but on his own was no match for the two strong dragons.

They didn't bite hard enough to hurt Flame but just enough to stop him from escaping.

Georga helped the boys push Flame up the steep slope by pushing Flame from underneath.

When they were on the top they released Flame but kept close by while they were catching their breath.

Flame tried to spread his wings in an attempt to fly away but Georga jumped on him and prevented him from going anywhere.

"Now to go down again" Georga said while she got off of him and bit his horn.

She dragged him towards the slide by his horns.

Georga released Flame when they had reached the start of the slide and left him there.

Flame was cringed in and wasn't moving at all.

Now Oxidus had also gotten up the wooden box and spotted Flame frozen on the top of the slide.

He braced himself and raced towards the fire dragon who was still cowering on the beginning of the slide and didn't notice him.

Oxidus hit Flame right in the back and that pushed him over the edge.

Flame glided down and because he was Oxidus couldn't stop his speed anymore and also glided down.

Flame fell with his head into the sand and Oxidus with his belly on top of him.

Flame struggled to get away but Oxidus held him down and was not going to let that happen.

Flame struggled to get away but with Oxidus lying on his tailbase and Flame was half buried in the sand that was impossible. Flame was making helpless grapping movements. This was pointless as well because Oxidus was on top of him and therefore Flame couldn't reach him.

Georga and Gaius were laughing at the silly fight between the two fire dragons.

"Come on Oxidus, you don't have to restrain Flame anymore" Ember came up to them to save Flame.

Oxidus lifted himself off of Flame and Flame quickly got out from underneath him. He ran like a scared little hatchling towards Ember and cringed to be able to disappear behind her. He was making scared squeaking sounds and looked very pathetic.

Georga looked bewildered at the sight of the fire dragon acting so scared and weak. This Flame took shyness to a whole new level.

She now heard Igüsa chuckle as well. From her position a few metres away.

"Hey Flame, want to battle?" Oxidus asked the scared dragon who was hiding behind Ember.

"What! You? Me? You want to fight me!" Flame stammered from behind his pink hiding spot.

"Yeah why not?" Ember sidestepped to reveal Flame hiding behind her.

"Come Flame, show him what your made of" Igüsa encouraged.

"Well, I rather not-" Flame stammered.

"But you will" Ember said clearly with an very maternal sounding voice.

"Go on Flame, Oxidus will go easy on you right" Georga looked suggestively towards her friend.

Oxidus signed "All right" He said as he obviously hated it that he couldn't go all out. Oxidus loved to battle so that he didn't like it that he had to restrain himself.

"Well I-" Flame still didn't do it. However the pressure of all their expecting faces finally proved too much for him.

"Okay I will! But only one!" He shouted as he shot up from his cringing position almost like he was spring loaded.

He tried to look strong but he only looked even funnier and everyone made a blowing sound as they tried not to laugh at him.

* * *

Flame and Oxidus where standing face to face on the battle arena next to the playground.

Igüsa seemed more alert now as she knew how powerful her brother could be. She still allowed them to battle but was ready to stop it if that was necessary.

Oxidus looked fierce and ready for battle. Georga knew that it was just his aptitude for battle that made him like that so she didn't worry about it. He still was thinking clearly and wouldn't go all out. Energy seemed to be radiating from him as if it came from an overfilled power supply. Georga had always loved to see Oxidus battle, when in the arena he always seemed incredible.

Flame on the other hand looked still doubtful and timid. He looked like he was awaiting a punishment and barely showed any signs strength at all. He apparently had no will to battle and wished this to be as short as possible.

The sharp contrast between the moods of the two battlers was so appearing that it made Georga chuckle.

"Let's see who wins, your boyfriend or Ember's" Gaius whispered to her.

Georga growled at him but he just smirked.

Ember acted as referee and she knew what to say having heard it before during other matches. "Ready, get set, Fight!" she shouted slamming her small wings down in an x like fashion.

Oxidus tensed but didn't move a muscle. This was strange because he usually was quick to move. Georga suspected it was because he promised to go easy on Flame.

Flame tensed and didn't move a muscle either. He did it from fear and he seemed totally paralyzed with fright.

The two fire dragon stood glaring in each other's eyes for about five minutes with neither one of them making a move. They both were tense, one from excitement and one from fear.

"Come on you two!" Gaius shouted, having little patience "This is a sparring match not a staring contest!"

Oxidus wanted Flame to make the first move so that he could estimate his battle strength as he promised to go easy. However as it seemed Flame was never going to make a move he took the initiative instead. He sprinted towards Flame and rammed him with his horns hard in his chest.

Flame skated along the street and slammed against a building. He didn't hit the building hard at all so he wasn't injured. But still he didn't move from his spot.

"Well… come on Flame, even if you have very little power, at least do something" Oxidus shouted also low on patience because of the staring contest.

"But I-" Flame stammered.

Oxidus growled and shot a red hot fire stream towards the cringing fire dragon.

The fire completely surrounded the dragon in seconds and he looked much to scared to do anything.

Flame quickly disappeared into the hot flames but he screams of agony were very easy to hear.

"Oxidus stop! That's enough!" Igüsa shouted at him.

Oxidus instantly stopped his attack and ran to Flame as he now realized that he was causing him pain.

Flame was still lying in the same position on the ground since he collided with the building.

"Did I hurt you?" Oxidus asked worrying.

"Um, no, don't worry" Flame got to his feet and didn't look injured at all.

Georga was quite surprised that although it was painful Flame didn't have any injuries at all. No burns, no bruises, nothing.

"Well I really ought to get going" Flame stammered he was clearly desperate to get away.

"Okay I'll see you tomorrow Flame" Ember said still sounding cheerful.

"Bye" Flame still managed to produce before awkwardly flying off.

* * *

"Weird fellow" Georga said to Ember.

"Flame is not weird!" Ember said a bit fierce "He's just a bit shy"

"A bit?" Georga said mockingly.

"So does this mean that you can't become my mate anymore?" Gaius asked to Ember.

Ember looked appalled at him for making the comment and Georga was now really was mad at her brother. He had made many seductive comments before but this one was too much.

She fired an earth missile towards him that knocked him hard on his back.

"That hurt Georga!" Gaius shouted at her as he jumped back to his feet.

"Keep your mouth shut about those things!" Georga shouted back.

Gaius growled and launched at her.

The twins were now clawing and biting away at each other in a tangled mess of green body, claws and horns.

This wasn't a play fight anymore and it almost looked like they might actually really injure each other if they weren't stopped.

Luckily Igüsa spotted the fighting and quickly stepped in.

She shot a fireball that exploded very close to the twins. Georga and Gaius instantly forgot about each other and trembled in fear looking at the full grown adult dragoness that was towering over them.

"There won't be any fighting here!" Igüsa said very strict and also sounding angry

"Yes Igüsa" Gaius whimpered.

"Good, now make up you two!" Igüsa ordered not letting her voice lose its edge.

Georga looked disgusted at Gaius but another sharp look from Igüsa proved too much for her.

The sibling walked towards each other and nuzzled each other like was expected.

When a dragon nuzzles just after a quarrel it meant that the matter was settled it had been forgiven.

"Good" Igüsa said satisfied as she settled down again.

Georga and Gaius got back to playing with Ember and Oxidus but the two siblings didn't speak to each other anymore for the remainder of the afternoon.

* * *

"Come on little ones, time to head home" Igüsa said to them when it was starting to get dark.

"Mwaaa, can't we play some more" Oxidus protested.

"Mom told us to be back before dinner" Igüsa reminded him.

"Okay then" Oxidus sighed as Igüsa took Georga, Gaius and Oxidus along back home.

"Bye Ember" Georga said to her friend as Ember diverted away to head to her own home.

"Bye" Ember replied before walking towards her house that was only one street away.

They reached Oxidus' house in about 10 minutes walking. Then Georga said goodbye to Oxidus and started the journey back home again.

However her brother had other plans in mind.

"Igüsa, would you mind coming along with me?" He asked the young adult dragoness.

"Huh, where?" Igüsa asked and Georga had the same question in her mind.

Gaius looked at Georga before turning back to Igüsa.

"That's a secret" he said smiling.

Georga was about to open her mouth and protest but Igüsa beat her to it "Sure,

Let's go after dinner okay"

"Okay" Gaius had already made his deal before Georga had a chance to do anything about it.

"I'm going home" she snapped not wanting to be involved with Gaius trying to seduce a dragoness who was ten years older than him and also ten times as big.

"Okay, I will see you at home" Gaius said gleeful.

His happy voice was further conformation for Georga and while flying back home her mind filled with curses and with all kinds of dirty images of Gaius and Igüsa.

However Georga instantly also felt a curtain loneliness inside of her as she had never flown home without Gaius by her side.

The thought of Gaius having a date with Igüsa quickly pushed that away and she flew home with anger and disgust in her mind.

Georga walked into the house where she was greeted by Volt.

"Georga? Where's Gaius?" He asked a bit worried. The two were never apart.

"He's having a date with Igüsa" Georga snapped.

"A date with Igüsa" Volt repeated laughing.

"Very funny Georga but where is he?"

"Having a date with Igüsa" Georga said again.

"You mean for real?" Volt exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes"

"Let's go and eat dinner now okay" Volt said trying to break the topic.

"Okay" Georga couldn't get the thought out of her head of what Gaius was now possibly doing at this moment.

Volt had given her a meal of Taviboah's and hot spiced sheep meat, her favourite.

Georga was eating her dinner slowly and enjoyed it very much.

"Hey where is Gaius' dinner?" Georga asked Volt when the plate was becoming quite empty.

"He doesn't have dinner so eat up" Volt replied smiling.

"Gaius" Georga thought as she diverted her gaze to the ceiling.

After a short while the plate was empty and Georga was feeling full.

She got to her room and played with her toys while waiting for her brother to come back. Volt went to his room as he still had some work to do.

* * *

At about seven o'clock Georga heard someone knock on the door.

"Gaius" The thought raced through Georga's mind as lighting and she raced just as fast towards the door.

Volt also appeared and opened the door with his mouth.

Georga spotted Igüsa standing in the opening with Gaius by her side. Her brother seemed to have something in his mouth but Georga couldn't see what it was from so far away.

"I've come to bring him home now" Igüsa sounded a bit annoyed.

Igüsa was always very friendly so that Gaius annoyed her with mating comments was now obvious.

"Thank you Igüsa" Volt said sounding strict and looking angrily down at the little earth dragon.

Georga spotted Gaius cringe in from Volt's harsh look.

"I will take care of it, you go home now" Volt said to her.

"Huh? What's do you mean?" Igüsa asked tilting her head.

"He went on a date with you and tried to seduce you didn't he?" Volt said very harsh as he looked punitively down at Gaius.

Georga was very surprised to hear Igüsa laugh heartily at it.

"I think this is all a big misunderstanding, why don't you let him tell his story before jumping to conclusions" She suggested while she turned and flew off.

"Okay Gaius why don't you come with me and tell me accurately what you have done this evening with Igüsa" Volt said sternly as he walked towards his room with Gaius in tow.

Georga expected to hear shouting and maybe even smacks to come from the room but as the minutes ticked by they refused to come.

After about 15 minutes Gaius and Volt appeared from the curtain. Gaius was not crying and didn't even look sad. Something was strange was going on.

Now Volt shot another punitive glare downwards but instead of Gaius it was now directed towards Georga.

"Don't draw conclusions without knowing the full story Georga!" He scolded at her.

"Huh, what?" Georga stammered totally taken off guard.

"I want the entire living room cleaned by you before bedtime" Volt ordered angrily "Understand!"

"Understand" Georga squeaked as she quickly got to work cleaning up the house.

* * *

"Not what you were expecting now is it?" Gaius said as he looked with delight at Georga putting all stuff on the ground back into the shelves and clawing away all the mess in the house.

Volt had given him another sheep and the same number of taviboah as he gave Georga. He kept watching them and prevented Georga from doing anything other than cleaning.

Georga snarled back at her brother but a stern look from Volt made her turn back to her cleaning with her teeth grinding loudly.

For Gaius it was awesome, a very good meal and live entertainment.

Georga cleaned the entire house from top to bottom and Gaius followed her with his dish of food. He was enjoying her punishment very much especially since she tried to get him into trouble.

"So Gaius, what was it that you did together with Igüsa" Georga asked after she finally had finished cleaning.

"Let's go to our room and I will tell you" Gaius smirked.

Georga didn't like him keeping it a mystery but she walked into their room.

She had expected Gaius to follow her and come with some kind of lame story. But when she turned she saw that he hadn't followed her.

She settled down on their bed and waited for him to come.

Gaius appeared from behind the curtain a few seconds later.

He had something large in his mouth that he was carrying very gently. It wasn't easy because it only barely fitted between his jaws and he couldn't put pressure on it.

"What do you have there?" Georga asked.

Gaius couldn't speak but he laid it down in front of her.

It was a doll of a green earth dragoness. The dragoness looked a bit like her but a few years older.

"This is for you" Gaius said now smiling.

"Huh? What? For me?" Georga stammered in disbelief.

"I hope this can settle for our little fight today" he said a bit shy.

Georga picked up the doll with her mouth and put it on their toy shelf. She quickly turned back to Gaius as she was very anxious to hear his story.

"I had to go with someone because Volt doesn't allow it if we go and wander around the city on our own. So I asked Igüsa if she wanted to go with me and buy it" Gaius said to her.

"Gaius" Georga said lovely as she walked up to him.

Georga tenderly nuzzled her brother "Thank you Gaius, its beautiful"

"Sure thing Georga" Gaius said as he rubbed her back. The twins really had an intimidate moment now.

"I'm very sorry that I thought you got to a date with Igüsa" Georga said as she retreaded her snout. "I was just sure that it was what you were doing" She was telling the truth right away. He was her twin brother so trying to lie to him was pointless.

"Could be an interesting idea though" Gaius smirked.

"Don't even think about it!" Georga warned.

Gaius laughed and now settled down on his haunches.

"So, are you ready to admit it already or not?" Gaius asked.

"Huh? Admit what?" Georga asked very surprised tilting her head sideways.

"You and Oxidus, are you two going to do it this time already or wait till next time?" Gaius asked with a smirk on his face that seemed to be of pure enjoyment.

"Gaius!" Georga yelled as she swung her tail globe at him.

This time however Gaius ducked and dodged her attack.

He counterattacked with his horns and knocked her on her back.

"Sorry Georga, not this time" Gaius said while he was standing over her never wiping the smirk off his face.

Georga shove out from underneath Gaius. Gaius didn't pin her down and he just allowed her to escape.

She could strike back at him but since he gave her that doll he was in the clear this time.

Georga picked one of their toys from the shelve and the twins played together for the remainder of the evening.

"Gaius, Georga! It's bedtime" Volt appeared from behind the curtain.

"Okay Volt" The twins replied in unison.

They put their toys away and rested down on the bed they shared.

Georga laid down on her side, her tail was curled backwards so that her brother could lie next to her. She had her wings out and the major part of her body was open.

Her brother joined her and shoves up next to her.

Gaius was lying with his back on her belly. He had one wing under her and the other one over her.

Georga could feel the warm energy of her brother's body. She never had problems sleeping because with him next to her she always fell asleep very quickly.

Georga felt totally at peace now. She quickly dozed off to sleep and shared her sleep with her brother. They had always shared everything: their hatchling bottle, their meals, their first flying lessons, their toys, their friends, truly everything. Georga and Gaius truly shared everything and always did everything together. That was how it was and as far as Georga knew it was how it would always be.

* * *

Now a much older earth dragoness started to wake up alone in her room.

"Gaius" Georga thought back to her twin brother as tears started to form in her sapphire eyes.

They had fought so often, she had hit him more times than she could count and they had argued and quarrelled so many times. However she had always thought they were inseparable. Nothing could separate them because they shared everything.

The reassuring feeling of his body laying next to her, the feeling that no matter what she was never alone. No matter what would ever happen Gaius would be there for her to help her. She had always taken it for granted and never really enjoyed it. Now she wanted to have her brother by her side more than ever.

Georga was really feeling alone now. Gaius was gone and Oxidus was quickly slipping away from her. She felt like she had nobody left to support and comfort her.

Georga looked outside and saw the moon shining through her window and giving the room an ominous glow. It was a beautiful night so Georga walked out to try and enjoy it.

However when she had just left her room she looked around the house. She didn't know why she did it but she just did.

Nothing had chanced at all, everything had been like this since she could remember. The couch they had played on was still there and the spot where they always ate also hadn't chanced. The only difference in the house was his absence.

"I'm alone" Georga whispered to herself as she walked through the house and towards the garden.

Georga walked out of the house and watched the stars.

The twinkle of the stars seemed like eyes watching over her but Georga knew that was just an illusion.

"Gaius" Georga said as she started crying more heavily. Her lost twin, Gaius.

"Gaius you sick pervert, I miss you!" She shouted to the night sky.

She missed Gaius so much. Even though they had fought so often she truly loved him. Now that he was gone it seemed she was just a lonely young dragoness who didn't have any family left at all.

Then she noticed Volt's hard snoring in his room on the other end of the house.

Suddenly a very odd and immature desire came welling up in her and she walked into his room. Georga was right now feeling like a hatchling again inside. She didn't care about her true age anymore.

The enormous electric dragon was lying on his back, sleeping and snoring on his large pile of straw. He was lying with his wings folded underneath him and all four limps spread wide. It looked a bit like he was knocked unconscious judging from his position.

Georga was no longer intimidated by his huge size because she knew that deep inside Volt was just a big softie and loved her with all his heart. With him twitching and looking at his exposed belly Georga giggled as she found him look quite funny.

Georga just couldn't resist the urge anymore and wanted to be together with Volt. She wanted warmth and comfort to sleep; she was just a lonely hatchling that wanted love.

She gently jumped on him careful not to wake him up.

She laid down on her guardian's soft belly and tried to burry herself into him as far as possible. She wanted protection from her fears and sadness and she wanted to be with her last remaining family.

It was extremely difficult for her to find herself a comfortable position. She was actually much too old to sleep with him like this but she didn't feel that old now at all.

Inside she was just a desperate little hatchling and she wanted to be with her parent to protect and nurture her. A hatchling like her could burry herself into such a large adult with ease.

She turned around, folded her wings fully in and curled her tail around herself. Now she finally was lying in the pit she had made in his belly.

Volt chuckled as Georga's movements on his belly tickled him. But luckily he remained asleep.

Despite his loud snoring Georga quickly dozed off again. Now sleeping happily knowing that she wasn't alone. Even though Gaius was gone Volt was still here for her. He would protect her from her pain, fear and sadness. Just like a real father.

"Daddy" She mumbled just before falling asleep.


	18. a nasty suprise

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 18 a nasty surprise**

Volt stirred as the early morning light penetrated his closed eyelids.

His eyes were slowly opening when he suddenly felt something move on his soft belly scales.

His eyes shot open from the feeling and he raised his head up to see what was tickling him.

However what he spotted was very unexpected.

"Georga!" Volt shouted but he closed his jaws quickly enough that no sound escaped his mouth.

His foster daughter was curled up like a hatchling and was sleeping on his belly.

She was purring softly and seemed to be having very nice dreams. With her sleeping so peacefully Volt just let her lay on him and rested his head back down on the straw.

Volt actually didn't mind it that Georga was sleeping on him. Her soft happy purring was giving a great feeling of satisfaction to him. It meant that she truly saw him as her father and not just as her caretaker.

Volt cared for Georga but always did everything he could to not only nurture her but to really raise her as his own child. Therefore moments like these always made him feel proud. It was the happiness and satisfaction that only one who is a parent knows about.

Volt let Georga sleep for about 15 minutes and then he decided it was time to wake up.

He bend his tail around and gently rubbed the head of his sleeping foster daughter.

Georga blinked a couple of times and yawned. This was not her own room so she was feeling a bit dazed.

"Good morning sleepy head" Volt teased.

"Volt!" Georga exclaimed very surprised.

She quickly jumped off of him as she looked like a pathetic hatchling up there.

"Georga, what are you doing in here?" Volt asked as he rolled over and got back on four feet.

"Well, I just, um, I just, couldn't sleep" Georga stammered her cheeks turning red.

"So you wanted to sleep with me is that it?" Volt asked with a warm smile.

"Well, um" Georga looked away a bit embarrassed

"That's fine Georga, you can sleep with me whenever you want" Volt said very kindly. He wanted to show her that he would take care of her in any possible way he could.

"Thank you Volt" Georga said very honest apparently it meant a lot to her.

"Good, now let's say we go and get some breakfast" Volt said now trying to lure away the obviously painful subject from Georga.

"Yay!" Georga chirped with a whelpling like excitement.

The sound was very familiar to Volt but he couldn't place it.

Somehow it made him think of the time when he still had two earth dragons to take care of instead of just one.

"Gaius" Volt also missed his foster son.

He quickly shove the thought away because he had to make breakfast for his one remaining child.

* * *

In the meantime in another part of town a very beautiful fire dragoness was also waking up.

She yawned and was feeling a little bit stiff.

She lowered her shoulders and stretched her hind legs.

Her rump rose in the air and her vertebrae popped as she stretched out.

After she was feeling good and awake she checked up on her brothers.

Furno was still sleeping on his pile of straw but the pile of Oxidus was empty.

"Huh? Where could he be?" Igüsa got up and started to look for him in the house.

She didn't spot him but she knew his most likely position.

She walked towards the garden and as expected she found Oxidus there staring at the sky.

It was 6:30 and the morning sun was rising. It had a beautiful red, orange glow to it that indicated it was going to be a nice day.

However despite Oxidus' snout pointing in the direction of the rising sun Igüsa doubted that he was really looking at it.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"Nope" Oxidus replied without turning back to look at her.

His emotionless response still pained Igüsa even though he was already like this for weeks now.

She still remembered the times when she had to restrain him because otherwise she feared he would explode from excitement.

Back then his energy was limitless and his great love for battle was inspiring.

"He was always so joyful and full of energy" Igüsa thought as memories returned.

How he could play with Georga and her brother. How she was always sent to babysit them. How she had to keep an eye out for her brother possibly injuring dragons with his incredible power.

However a tired sigh from Oxidus quickly brought her back to the present and to the depressive and gloomy Oxidus.

"I have a match today, are you going to watch it" Igüsa said having the feeling that she at least had to say something.

Oxidus didn't reply but Igüsa knew there was nothing wrong with his hearing.

"Are you going to come and watch or not?" Igüsa said a bit more aggressive this time.

"Sure" Oxidus said although it sounded more like he wanted Igüsa to stop asking it rather than he was really going to come and watch her match.

"Okay then" it was the only thing Igüsa could say.

Feeling like it was pointless to say anything more to him Igüsa walked back inside the house to make breakfast.

She put her front claw into a ring in the drawer and pulled it open.

Inside the wooden cabinet was were some fruits who she picked out with her mouth.

She also picked out a large piece of boar that she put on a dish.

Using her fire element she quickly cooked it steaming hot and put the fruits around it.

"Furno, Oxidus! Breakfast!" She shouted.

"Yeah!" Furno jumped up from his bed as soon as he heard the word breakfast.

As if the boar could still get up and run away at any moment Furno sprinted towards it and ripped pieces edaciously.

He was eating so quickly that by the time Oxidus had arrived he was already full.

Igüsa didn't eat yet because she waited for Oxidus. She wanted to eat together with him as she was going for another chance to get him to talk.

Feeling full Furno started to walk back to his small bed and go back to sleep but Igüsa put her tail in front of him to stop him.

"You are going to stay" She said using the stern voice copied from her mother.

"Tired" Furno said.

"Sure? You seemed full of energy" Igüsa said incredulously.

"Tired" Furno said again.

"Then sleep right here" Igüsa said as a joke.

Furno settled down and curled up into a sleeping position on the floor just like Igüsa had ordered him.

"'Sigh' that's not what I meant" Igüsa rolled with her eyes but didn't correct him. She wanted him to stay at the dish until everyone was finished. But she had given him an order and he had obeyed it. That meant he was a good boy and she couldn't punish him. He did what she asked, not what she wanted but what she asked nonetheless. Igüsa just left him sleeping and turned her attention back to Oxidus.

"So Oxidus, having any matches today?" She asked although it was actually an unnecessary question since she checked all his matches yesterday.

"Nope" Oxidus answered just like she had expected.

"Maybe you could go visit Georga, you two used to play so often" Igüsa knew that her tries to break down his façade were going around in circles but she couldn't think of better arguments.

Oxidus didn't respond and acted like he didn't hear it.

"Fine then" She snapped and accidently she did it out loud.

"Iga?" Furno asked he was startled awake by her sudden snap.

Igüsa had woken him up so she felt like he deserved something from her now.

"Sorry Furno, why don't you go and lay down on your bed" She suggested.

"Thank" Furno said as he walked to his bed.

"Well Oxidus what else are you going to do today?" Igüsa turned her attention back to him again, determined not to give up.

Oxidus quickly took a very large bite so that he would not be able to answer her.

Igüsa now as starting to really lose her patience with him but she restrained herself from doing anything.

It was tough and she trembled with frustration but she managed to wait for him to swallow his meat patiently. Oxidus was chewing very slowly and carefully.

"Are you going to do anything today?" Igüsa asked again before Oxidus had a chance to take another bite.

"Watch the tournament" Oxidus said very absent.

"Okay" Igüsa stopped her fruitless tries to get him to talk because it was really starting to get on her nerves. If she didn't stop now she might lose it again and attack him like she had done a few days back.

"I think I should go to my job now" Igüsa said as it was already morning.

"Come on Furno. I will take you to Zerzelie" Igüsa said. She had taken Furno to Zerzelie and Globe to look after him while she was at work.

The day-care was closed so she had to leave Furno with someone to take care of him. She knew Zerzelie very well and with Zerzelie being a real mother, Igüsa had figured that she would know how to take care of a him.

"Okay" Furno replied as he got up from his bed and looked up at his big sister.

Igüsa bent her head down and very gently she picked up Furno in her mouth.

She made sure he was firmly stuck between her teeth. When she carried Furno she stuck him behind her fangs and her jaws. That way he couldn't go forward nor backwards and Furno's own limps prevented him from sliding out. Her teeth were also more than a centimetre away from him so there was no risk that she might accidently bite him.

Igüsa weaved to Oxidus with her wing since she couldn't speak.

Like always she got the silent response.

"Bye Oxus" Furno said for her.

Oxidus didn't give a reply to Furno either. So Igüsa just ignored him and walked out of the house.

She spread her wings and took off towards the house of Zerzelie.

After about 14 minutes Igüsa had reached the house and she landed on the street.

She bend down and put Furno on the ground.

With Furno following her she walked up to the front door and knocked with her talons.

The door opened seconds later and revealed the one dragon in the house that Igüsa didn't want to see.

"Mom! That shrimp is here again!" A muscular young fire dragoness shouted back inside the house when she spotted them.

Igüsa had never liked Flannery's attitude. She had seen her and Georga get into many quarrels together and she couldn't blame Georga for not liking the dragoness.

Flannery was arrogant, rude, insolent and disrespectful. She looked down harshly on Furno but luckily Zerzelie prevented her from bullying him.

Now Zerzelie also appeared with a warm smile on her face.

"Hallo Igüsa" Zerzelie said kindly "Bringing the whelpling again?"

"Yep, I'm sorry you have to look after him every time" Igüsa said as she didn't know what she would have done if Zerzelie hadn't agreed to look after Furno when she was at work.

"Oh, no problem at all. It's fun with him in the house with us"

"Yeah, the best time in the world" Flannery said very sarcastic.

"Hallo Flanny" Furno chirped as he looked up to her, it looked like he didn't hear her sarcastic comment at all.

Flannery growled down at him, if you didn't see it you would think the growl would come from a massive dragon. Even Igüsa sometimes thought Flannery's voice could be scary.

However Zerzelie stomped on the floor close to her daughter. Despite her low voice and strong build Flannery was still less than a quarter of the size of her mother so she backed off.

"Don't worry. We can take care of him" Zerzelie assured Igüsa "But Igüsa, I have a match today and so does Flannery. Do we have your permission to take him with us to the stands?" The fire dragoness asked.

"Sure, just make sure he doesn't make a break for it" She smiled as she looked down on her sometimes naughty little brother.

"He won't get the chance" Zerzelie assured her.

"Okay, Thank you Zerzelie" Igüsa said before turning to take off again.

"No problem Igüsa" Zerzelie said before closing the door.

"Being a mother can be tough" Igüsa thought as she flew towards the high parts of Warfang.

"Mother" Igüsa now released a small tear from her eye as she thought about Fuoca.

Despite that she was already gone for multiple weeks Igüsa could still clearly feel the wound in her heart.

"I still can hardly believe that you are really gone. First father and now you too" Igüsa pondered as she flew towards the house of the ice dragon.

However Igüsa shook her head angrily and threw the tears off "I am their mother now and I can't think about Fuoca anymore" Igüsa deliberately called her Fuoca instead of mother to put a bit more distant between her lost mother.

"I have to remain strong! Oxidus and Furno depend on me"

Igüsa now saw Blizzard's house appearing and she landed gently on the streets.

Now that she had reached the house Igüsa shifted her mind to her job.

"Wonder what that jerk now has planned for me today" Blizzard often gave her the most annoying jobs he could think of. Igüsa wouldn't be surprised if he found it enjoyable to see her working herself out and also it would be very likely that he loved scolding her.

She didn't bother knocking and just opened the door using her tail.

"I'm here!" She shouted as another boring workday began.

"Dad the maid is here again." Frost shouted to his father.

"Ah there she is!" The barking voice of Blizzard came just like Igüsa had heard so often.

"What do I need to do this time?" Igüsa bowed to the ice dragon although she would rather shoot a fireball at him.

"I want the entire kitchen cleaned and all the stuff in the living room stocked. I also want the garden cut and all the paper work sorted out" Blizzard ordered gruffly.

"Of course" Igüsa said although she couldn't completely hide her resentment. Blizzard always talked to her like that but Igüsa wouldn't let that break her pride.

"I also still have a chore for you" Frost said in the same gruff tone as his father.

"I want you to sort out my room. Make sure you do that first you got that!" Frost snapped to her.

"Frost?" Igüsa was very surprised Frost acted to her like that. He was acting like his father now instead of his usual generous self.

"Of course master Frost" She said as an obedient servant. She had to because Blizzard was still standing in the room.

"Good, now you start with his room first and then you do the rest of the house" Blizzard took over the commanding from his son.

"When I return I want at least the kitchen and the living room spick and span" He said looking very stern at her in an effort to intimate her.

"Don't say anything!" Igüsa clenched her jaws and grinded her teeth.

"Understood?" Blizzard barked.

"Understood" Igüsa replied with a great difficulty to control her temper.

Blizzard walked out of the room with his chest prompted forwards in a bragging way.

The small Frost followed him but he stopped when he passed Igüsa.

"Go to my room first okay?" He whispered to her.

"I'll be back at three o'clock maid" Blizzard said while weaving for Frost to get over to him.

"You better hurry up maid if you don't want to get into major trouble" Frost said very gruffly before running up to join his father.

"Frost?" Igüsa couldn't believe Frost was acting so patronizing and distant to her. It was just so unlike him.

After Frost and his father had left to watch the tournament Igüsa walked up the stairs and got to Frost's room.

Frost had ordered her to start there and seeing no reason why not to Igüsa also did.

However when she walked through the black silk curtain of Frost's room she was very surprised by what she saw.

The room was perfectly clean. There was not even a single twiddle dust anywhere. It looked like Frost had cleaned his entire room this same morning.

"Why did he order me to go and clean it?" Igüsa thought. She carefully checked the room to see there was anything for her to do but she spotted absolutely nothing. If there was nothing to clean here then why had Frost order her to clean it?

Suddenly she spotted something standing on Frost's bed.

It was a large wooden box that Frost had covered using the sheet from his bed.

It was the only thing that wasn't where it was supposed to be so Igüsa decided to check it out.

When she was about to pick up the box she that there was a note on it.

She bent down and carefully read it as nothing seemed to make sense now.

'Dear Igüsa.

Sorry about the attitude I put up to you today but I had no choice. Dad gave me a sound scolding yesterday, most likely because of the way I acted with Georga. He ordered me never to call you anything else other than maid ever again and to treat you as what you really are. He gave me an offer I couldn't refuse so I'm afraid he will be getting his way.

Enjoy this gift before cleaning up the house because my father has a lot of things he wants you to do. I didn't know what you liked so I hope I picked the right thing.

I will return home before my father will so if you're angry at me feel free to give me a hard spanking, I deserve it.

Success with your match today.

Frost

PS: destroy this note after you have read it so that my father will never find it.'

"Frost" Igüsa smiled very warmly. His father was a jerk and she hated that she was a maid to him. But the kindness of Frost made everything still bearable.

"How could he be the son of his father?" The question had appeared to Igüsa countless times. Blizzard always called her 'maid' and did nothing else than scold and bark at her. He clearly saw her as below him, sometimes Igüsa even wondered if he considered her a real dragoness.

Frost on the other hand treated her like a lady and a dear friend. He often tried to advocate for her and get her a day off. He was also the one who gave her extra money for a job well done, he did this from his own spending money and behind the back of his father. He often had to look out for his father though. That he treated Igüsa like that is something his father certainly did not approve.

Also unlike his father Frost called her by her name although now he couldn't do it anymore. This meant that Frost really saw her as a dragoness and not just as a maid.

Igüsa now gently pulled the sheet from the box with her claws. She was looking forward to Frost's gift for her.

Inside the wooden box were 5 Taviboah's. They looked big, fresh and juicy; Frost had only picked the best ones for her.

"Thank you Frost" Igüsa said to the box while she started eating slowly, enjoying his gift to the fullest.

Igüsa and her family were very poor and they couldn't afford things like Taviboah's. The fruits were the favourite dragon snack but they were not cheap. They weren't that expensive either but they were too expensive for Igüsa's family.

The fruits tasted sweet and juicy. The pulp almost seemed to melt away in her mouth and she had to resist the urge to gorge it all down in one go.

After devouring the five delicious fruits Igüsa put the sheet back over the box and burned the note with her fire breath.

"Thank you Frost" Igüsa said to herself once more.

"Well it's time to go to work" Igüsa now walked back down and started on cleaning the kitchen. Igüsa was grinning, from happiness but also from something more sinister.

* * *

In the citadel the little Furno was walking next to his caretaker Zerzelie.

The citadel was very crowded so he stayed close to the adult dragoness.

"Try to keep up shrimp. You might learn something" Flannery snorted from his left.

"I will" Furno replied. He would observe her closely and learn everything she did.

"Furno, I would like you to climb on my back. I don't want to lose you in all the turmoil" Zerzie said.

Furno didn't really get the second part but he did get the kind dragoness wanted him to get on her back.

"How?" Furno asked as the dragoness seemed way too large for him.

"Just climb up my tail" the fire dragoness lowered her tail to the ground.

Furno walked around her and jumped on her tail blade.

He tried to climb up further but without any back spikes to grab on to he kept sliding down again and the tightly fitting dragon scales.

"Here, let me help you" Zerzie said kindly as she could feel his fruitless efforts.

Suddenly Furno clamped on the tail as he felt it moving.

He was lifted slowly up and over the dragoness until he was hovering above her back by about 15 centimetres.

"You can let go now" He heard Zerzie saying.

The little fire dragon let go of the tail and landed with his butt on the red dragoness' back.

"Are you good up there?" Zerzie asked.

"Good" Furno said as he suspected it was the answer she wanted.

He felt now Zerzie walk underneath him and settled down on her back. She then said something about watching but he didn't really get it. However as long as she was here it didn't really matter.

He closely watched Flanny and took account of all of her moves. She had ordered him to watch her and learn so that's what he did.

He found Flanny look very thick. He knew Flanny was like Iga and not like Oxus but she looked more like Oxus to him.

Her voice seemed like the green male that was walking next to him but her colour seemed more like the dragon he was riding on.

"Flanny is weird" Furno thought out loud.

"Grrr" the young fire dragoness growled up at the little fire dragon.

"Flannery!" Zerzie warned.

The young fire dragoness snorted in frustration before turning her head away and not looking at him anymore.

"Furno, you can't say that to people!" Zerzie said now turning her attention to him.

"Okay" Furno said. He couldn't say to Flanny that she was weird.

"I am going to the young stands right now" Flanny said and she quickly was away.

"Why Flanny away from me?" Furno asked Zerzie why the thick dragoness didn't want to be with him. Maybe it had something to do that he called her weird when apparently that wasn't allowed.

"Don't let it bother you Furno" Zerzie said "She is just going to where she needs to be"

"Okay" Furno said. It was not because of him.

He walked around in circles on her back and suddenly he noticed that Zerzie had walked into the stadium. It was the same place as where Igüsa had taken him yesterday to watch Oxidus' battle.

"Oxus battle?" He asked.

"No, he doesn't" Zerzie answered.

Furno could now feel Zerzie lay down and he jumped off of her.

"You stay here Furno" Zerzie said and she sounded stern.

"I stay" he repeated.

"Good" Zerzie said as she turned her head away to watch the match unfold.

Furno was very small and he couldn't see over the heads of the other dragons.

Zerzie had ordered him to stay so that's what he did.

After multiple battles had passed Furno was starting to get bored and he looked around the stadium to see if there was anything interesting to do.

The large crowd mostly blocked his view but he could spot a large bright yellow box that stood out from the stadium.

In the squire he saw a couple of dragons.

"Geora!" Furno chirped.

Georga played with Furno in the day-care so Furno wanted to go and ask if she would want to play now.

He ran through all the dragons, cheetah and moles that were watching the tournament. However since he was very small no one paid it much attention.

Suddenly his eye fell down on something that he found even more interesting.

"Big bro" Furno spotted Oxidus sitting near the honour box just in front of the yellow walls.

He changed his course and now he was quickly running to join his brother.

The stadium was huge for a dragon of that age so by the time Furno had reached the young dragon stands he was gasping but he was nowhere out of energy yet.

Oxidus was watching the matches of the Igus cup. Since there were no lessons to give he didn't have anything better to do.

"Big bro!" Oxidus suddenly heard from a couple of stands above him.

"Furno?" Oxidus said very surprised.

"What are you doing here?" Flannery asked and not in a very nice tone.

Oxidus glared at her for talking to his brother like that and Flannery glared back.

Oxidus quickly deduced that this staring contest pointless and he just looked away and turned to his little brother.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Zerzelie?"

"Boring I want to be with Oxus" Furno replied.

Oxidus was a bit unsure about what to do with Furno so he took some time before giving a reply.

"Okay then, but keep still" He ordered as he didn't want any trouble.

"Okay" Furno replied.

Oxidus turned his attention back to the battle he didn't really watch it as most of his attention was directed to Furno who was laying next to him.

Oxidus didn't really want to admit it but he found it feel quite nice to have his little brother laying next to him.

After a while Flannery rose up from her position "I'm up soon" she declared.

"Better pay attention shrimp" She said as she started walking towards the exit.

Suddenly she stopped because she had something to add to that "And you better watch out as well Oxidus"

Oxidus didn't reply like he didn't hear her. Flannery didn't think much of it as Oxidus often gave everyone the silent treatment these days.

"Bye Flanny" Furno said.

Flannery hated it when the little dragon called her Flanny but by now she knew that snarling at him wasn't going to get her anywhere.

Suddenly a thought arose to her and she walked into the crowd. She now knew a way to punish that little shrimp.

Just above them Frost was watching the matches unfold.

Just like yesterday he was watching together with Georga but he kept more distance from her because of his scolding yesterday.

He had this honour seat of payment for his efforts at spreading the news but it didn't turn out to be much fun.

Because he had a spot in the honour not only could he watch the matches from there but he also had to. His father would make sure that he would never be anywhere in the stadium except in the honour box.

Most of his friends were in the young dragon stands below him and he couldn't shout to them in public.

Luckily Georga was also in the honour box in addition to Spyro and Cynder.

It still looked a bit weird seeing three dragonflies floating around Spyro instead of just one but he was starting to get used to it.

He left his father's side now and walked a bit closer to Georga.

He looked back and saw his father hadn't spotted him yet.

Georga was laying on her belly with her wings folded in. Because the honour box was elevated above the rest of the stands she could lay down while still being able to watch the matches.

He laid down next to Georga and waited a few seconds for his father to forbid it.

The correction didn't come so he just turned to his green friend.

"So, how are things going with him?" He asked her.

"Huh? With who?"

"You know," he used his wing to point down at the young dragon underneath them "Oxidus".

"Same as always" Georga sighed.

"Hey look there, who is that" Frost asked Georga as he spotted a red female dragon walk into the young dragon stands.

"That's Zerzelie, she is a friend of Igüsa, but what is she doing in the young dragons stand?" Georga said also interested.

The blue and green dragons looked very interested at what was going to happen underneath them.

"Furno!" They heard her yell and she clearly was not happy.

"Hey look there" Frost spotted the little fire dragon he met a few days back cringing in front of the fire dragoness.

Georga rolled with her eyes "Furno. He can be quite a handful; to me, to Igüsa and by the looks of it also to Zerzelie"

"I told you to stay with me!" Zerzelie said sternly.

"Sorry" Furno squeaked his voice shooting upwards.

"Can you please do this someplace else" A young dragoness complained "Some of us are trying to watch a match here"

Zerzelie picked up Furno in her mouth and walked back to the adult stands. Furno looked very submissive because he knew that he was naughty.

"What do you think that was about?" Frost asked Georga.

"Well I can't be sure but what I guess is that Zerzelie ordered Furno to stay and he made a break for it" Georga concluded.

"He is really doesn't listen very well does he" Spyro now also joined the conversation.

"Well he does much better than you did at that age" The pink dragonfly that was Spyro's mother said.

Spyro lowered his head in embarrassment a little and sighed "Mom!" He grumbled a bit angry a bit embarrassed

"She has a point there, I can't count anymore how many times you sneaked out because you to gorge yourself. " Sparx added to that.

"Hey, you were the one who constantly went into forbidden places and I was then forced to pull you out again" Spyro said back.

Frost didn't believe listening to Spyro and Sparx arguing would a whole lot of fun. He had seen enough of the tournament anyway so he was looking for a way he could leave.

Suddenly he remembered something that might do.

"Dad, I still have some homework to do, can I go now?" He asked.

"Sure, but you stay away from the maid you got that!" He said sternly.

"I will, I will stay away from her and I have a few more chores for that filthy lizard" Frost sneered.

"Fine" His father suddenly sounded more cheerful after Frost had spit about Igüsa.

Frost walked out of but suddenly Cynder jumped up in front of him. She had a very angry and almost murderous look in her eyes.

"How dare you talk about Igüsa like that!" She shouted at him.

"Shhh, calm down Cynder, I can explain" Frost said, he did his best not to loose his cool but the furious black dragoness looked very scary.

"You don't talk to you superiors like that you black snake!" His father yelled now also getting involved.

"I need to do something" Frost thought as he quickly shifted his view back and forth and realised that the situation right now was a bit dangerous.

"Cynder please follow me and I will tell you okay" He whispered to her before taking a step back "You won't tell me what I can and can't do you hear me!" He barked as he walked out of the honour box with a very arrogant stance.

As he expected Cynder followed him and he quickly searched for a room where they could talk.

He spotted a curtain that seemed a bit dusty so he concluded the room would be empty.

It turned out to be one of the unused training rooms. It was about 9 by 10 metres. It had white walls and a few large windows. However the only thing that mattered was that it was empty and they could talk in private here.

"So Frost why do you talk about Igüsa like that?" Cynder asked not letting her sharp tongue loose its edge.

Frost turned to face her and then he also spotted that Spyro and Georga had followed him. It wasn't very surprising though that they wanted to know what was going on as well.

"Well you see guys," He started hoping he would bring it the best way "Dad and I had a harsh talk yesterday evening and he forced me to quit all kindness to Igüsa. When I am referring to her I must call her either maid or lizard and I must not speak to her except when giving orders" He got straight to the point and hoped his friends would understand.

He had thought that sugar-coating it wouldn't be the right decision when explaining something to his friends.

"Oh, I get it now" It felt like a relief to Frost that Georga was the first to speak. Georga knew him well and she would understand the best, Cynder would be harder to convince. Not only had she something against his riches but she also really looked up to Igüsa.

"So did you talk like that at home with her as well?" Cynder asked still having a relatively sharp accent.

"Well yes but I wrote her an apology and gave her a gift as well" Frost said hoping Cynder would be satisfied by it.

"Alright then, then it's fine" Cynder said indicating for Frost that she understood the situation.

"So where did you want to go anyway" Cynder then asked.

"Oh, I wanted to go back home. I just thought that maybe I could help her" Frost said.

"Is this normal for dragons?" The blue dragonfly whispered to Sparx.

"Yes, just like every single abnormal thing is normal in this absurd city" Sparx said to his dad.

After telling his friends the full story Frost got out of the stadium and flew back home.

Since he lived in the high parts of Warfang he reached his house very quickly.

He knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it as was polite. However it felt a bit strange for Frost to knock on his own door.

As he expected Igüsa opened the door but he was struck by the look she had in her eyes.

Igüsa was looking down very angry at him, the only thing he could compare it to was the look his father had during his scolding yesterday.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

"Igüsa, you read that note didn't you?" Frost asked fearing that she didn't and was now very angry at him.

"What note? You really think I would go and clean up your mess you spoiled brat!" She snapped. For Frost were her words weren't necessary, the tone of her voice had already answered his question.

"It's already bad enough that I have to listen to your father's barking but I really believed that you were different Frost" Igüsa said having a truly hurt voice.

"But now I see that you're no different" she spat.

"But in my room-" Frost started.

"I don't care what's in your room" Igüsa cut him off.

"But-"

"But nothing, come here you!" She shouted as she reached out to him.

She scooped up Frost with her large paw and dragged him into the house.

Igüsa then quickly closed the door behind her with her tail and walked up towards Frost was laying a few metres away from her.

"I had to bark at you because-"

"I said come here!" Igüsa snapped and she coiled her tail around the small ice dragon.

Frost was now stuck in her tail and he couldn't pull himself loose. He was very confused by Igüsa's behaviour. He knew that Igüsa had a very short temper but even when she was angry she never acted like this, something about this all was off.

Igüsa bend around and lifted the small ice dragon up by about one metre.

"Here is my order" Igüsa said with a voice that was so cold that it even sent shivers through the ice dragon Frost.

Frost didn't know what to do now. Igüsa was not all that powerful but to really fight against her? He just didn't know.

"Au!" Frost cried as suddenly he felt Igüsa's strong paw against his backside.

Igüsa smacked him again and again. She had her tail coiled around him to bind him and lift him off the ground. She was half bend inwards so that she could reach his backside and she was spanking him with her right front paw.

Her paw was large enough to cover his entire back side and smacks reverberated through Frost's body.

Frost was getting a spanking right now by his maid. This was a very odd scene to say the least.

Frost had never been spanked before and that it was the always sweet Igüsa made the situation only even more confusing.

After ten smacks Igüsa stopped.

Frost had started crying a little even though the smacks were not very hard. It was that Igüsa was giving them that made him cry.

Suddenly Igüsa started laughing heartily what caused Frost to loose the last bit of understanding he had of what was going on.

She relaxed her tail muscles that bonded Frost what caused him to smack down on the ground. Because he was only a metre in the air he didn't feel anything.

"So now you've gotten the spanking you said you deserved" She said doing her best to speak through her laughing.

"Huh?" Frost was not able to take in the situation.

"You said I was free to give you a spanking when you returned home didn't you?" Igüsa said still chuckling.

Suddenly it occurred to Frost what was going on. He had remembered putting in a joke in his note that he deserved a spanking for his behaviour. He had meant it as a sigh to show her that he was sorry about what he did. He didn't expect Igüsa to take it serious.

"I didn't mean it literally Igüsa!" Frost shouted rubbing his sore backside with his wing.

"So you did read my message after all!" Frost shouted as he was still mad at her for spanking him. Especially now that it seemed she understood the situation from the start.

"Of course I read it" Igüsa said while still smiling from her joke on him.

"You're going to be in deep trouble if I tell my dad about this" Frost threatened.

"You wouldn't want to loose someone like me now would you?" Igüsa said sounding a very cocky. She was grinning as she knew that she was totally in control of the situation right now.

"I, um" Frost couldn't muster it to say that he could get her fired.

"Thought so" Igüsa concluded.

Frost snarled at her but she didn't think anything of it.

"I guess you came to give me some help, didn't you?" She suggested.

"Well not anymore Igüsa" Frost snapped.

"Not?" Igüsa tilted her head very clueless "How come?"

"If you are going to spank me when I arrive home then you can do the chores yourself!" Frost shouted at her. He tried to appear angry but it didn't sound very convincing. They were both in a way too good mood now to be angry.

"Hmmm" Igüsa muttered as she was thinking. "Wait I know it!" Apparently she had a idea.

"What is it?" Frost was very curious about what Igüsa could have in mind next.

"Let's say you give me a spanking as well and we'll call it even" She said still in a laughing mood.

"Good idea" Frost smirked as the idea of revenge felt very nice.

Igüsa lowered herself down to the floor and moved her tail out of the way to allow Frost to reach her tailbase more easily.

Frost jumped on her back and walked towards her hindquarters.

When he had reached them he turned around and teasingly rubbed his tailblade on his target.

"I'll teach you now how a proper maid needs to behave" he said ominously as he tried to copy his father's voice. He could still feel his throbbing and sore behind very well and with the tables now turned he prepared himself for some fun.

"Please no master" Igüsa whimpered doing her best to sound helpless.

"Oh yes servant" Frost said evilly.

Frost swung his tail around in a circle and smacked it against the tailbase of Igüsa. He then raised it, swung it in the air and smacked it against her again, and then again.

He didn't hit Igüsa hard enough to cause her real pain but he wanted made sure that she would regret ever coming up with the idea of giving him a chance for revenge.

His spanking took longer than Igüsa's because he had to swing his tail around in the air every time to build up speed. Giving someone a spanking who is more than four times your size isn't easy.

However he finished all his ten blows and then jumped off of her. Now feeling satisfied that they were even.

Igüsa got up from the ground and didn't look happy at all. This made Frost on the other hand only even more cheerful.

"Couldn't you have been a bit gentler?" Igüsa complained as she rubbed her backside with her wing now "It was only a joke"

"Hey yours was harder, just look" Frost turned around and showed Igüsa the red spot on his tailbase.

"It only looks like more because you're blue and I'm red" Igüsa shot back.

"Well we're even now so want to help me with the kitchen" Igüsa said ending the subject.

"Sure" Frost chirped as he didn't feel this happy in weeks.

Igüsa could always make him laugh. Not just smile but truly laugh. They had already played a couple of times before and those were the best times Frost ever had.

Igüsa was much more than just a maid for Frost. He saw Igüsa as part of the family, therefore he also felt a curtain connection to Furno and Oxidus because they were Igüsa's family.

However his father had never seen her as family. For him she was just a maid and he had heard his father talking about her like an object instead of a person.

Frost saw her as who she really was. A kind dragoness who was most generous, and most enjoyable too.

He assisted her with her chores so that she could leave soon as she had a match this afternoon.

He had done this many times before as Igüsa was always kind to him.

She also could be a whole lot of fun to play with like just now. His father always wanted him to stay formal so he could rarely just wind down and have some fun.

Only Igüsa could do something like this. Only with her could he have felt so well as he did now.

"Hey Igüsa" Frost said he was scrubbing off some fat with his claws.

"Yes?"

"I sure like having you around" He said kindly.

"Thank you Frost" Igüsa replied warmly.

Knowing there was a lot still to do Frost returned to cleaning together with Igüsa.

After about an hour of cleaning Frost turned to Igüsa.

"Sorry but I really do have some homework to do and my dad will get suspicious if I haven't finished it."

"That's fine Frost, I can take care of the rest myself now" Igüsa said as she turned to face him "Thank you for the Taviboah's and for your help Frost, I really appreciate it" She said very grateful.

Frost smiled at Igüsa, he had volunteered to help her and she thanked him for every single thing. That was typically Igüsa. She never expected payment and although he had helped her very often already she was still just as grateful for it every single time.

He got up to his room and started to study up the books on ice moves like his father wanted. He had to master the ice mist technique before his father got home. Otherwise he would be in deep trouble.

* * *

Blizzard was arriving back home after having enough of watching the tournament with lesser dragons.

He still couldn't believe that they let the likes of Georga and her muscle headed guardian into the honour box.

"I I'm not fund of their attitude but with Spyro and that black snake I can understand . However the likes of that green lizard?" He was often shocked when he saw his son hanging out with her.

He didn't know if it was faith or not that the insolent and problematic maid of his was the sister of Georga's mate.

"Nah, just a coincidence" He thought as he landed at his house.

"If she doesn't stay away from my son she is going out of here for sure" Blizzard thought as he had reached the house. "That dirty dragoness had caused me more than enough problems with my son already. I hired her to do chores inside the house for a reasonable price. However Frost as most certainly taken an overwhelming liking of her. It sometimes seemed like he sees her as part of our family!" he found it a very alarming thought.

He opened the door and walked into the house.

"Frost, I'm home!" He shouted waiting for his disobedient son to appear.

"Dad!" He heard from above but I could clearly hear the fear in the voice.

"Have you mastered the move yet?" He said threatening as the frightened tone indicated otherwise to him.

"Well, um dad, you see" Frost stammered as he walked down the stairs.

"What have you done this afternoon if you weren't studying?" He asked sharp.

"He did his best" The red maid intervened.

"Quiet you!" He shouted at her.

He spotted the disobedient maid clench her teeth in rebellion instead of lowering her head in submission like she should.

"Get out of here and start cleaning!" He scolded as it seemed she needed an additional hint before she got the point.

He suddenly heard a suppressed growl from her as she turned away to do as he ordered.

"Hey Igüsa is right you know, I did everything I could!" Frost protested.

"Igüsa?" Blizzard asked as he wasn't allowed to say it.

"Igüsa!" The maid suddenly was back and now seemed to have really lost her temper.

"Maid! I ordered you to go and work on the garden" Blizzard said to the filthy lizard.

However the dragoness looked like she wasn't going anywhere. She finally couldn't contain herself anymore. Igüsa had totally lost her temper and she was filled with rage. The dragoness looked very dangerous.


	19. true aggression

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 19 true aggression**

Igüsa was trembling with rage as she stood in the hallway.

She just couldn't take it anymore. Blizzard's attitude was too much. With him barking at Frost after he did everything to allow himself kindness towards her was too much for her to take.

"Why have you ordered Frost to stop all kindness to me?" She shouted as she cared for Frost and Blizzard was taking away what was almost family to her.

"First he plays around with common dragons and then he also interacts with a maid" Blizzard said while still looking at Frost and not at Igüsa.

"And why can't he interact with me?" Igüsa shouted partly because of the insult but also because it was about her but he didn't look at her.

"You get out of here and watch the tournament. I will take care of this myself" Blizzard said to his son. Still ignoring Igüsa.

"But dad-" Frost protested.

"Now!" Blizzard said sternly.

Frost obediently lowered his head and walked out of the house just like his father ordered him.

No matter what happened Blizzard was still his father so he had to do as he was told.

As Igüsa watched him walk out of the house she noticed that the red spot from his spanking was still there.

She could only hope that Blizzard would be oblivious to it.

After being sure that Frost had left the house Blizzard turned his attention back to Igüsa.

"What did you do with him?" He asked punitive.

"What do you mean?" Igüsa shot back venomously now that she finally got his attention.

"His amount of homework was nothing and he could do it in the given time with ease! He had to have done something else in the meantime while he wasn't studying" Blizzard waited a few seconds before continuing.

"There isn't anyone else in this house but you so what did you do with him?"

Igüsa wanted to shout it out but she knew that she would be in trouble if she did so she kept silent. However she had great difficulty restraining herself.

Blizzard wanted an answer but she felt like she wasn't allowed to give it. She wanted to do nothing more than to spell it out for the brute barking at her but she just couldn't.

"Tell me or you're fired!" Blizzard shouted with retreated lips what showed his bright white fangs.

Seeing that Blizzard gave her no choice Igüsa just said it. Somewhere she actually wanted him to force her as she couldn't seem to do it herself.

"I did what he asked me to do with him and then he helped me with my work" she said. It was what had happened and she wasn't ashamed of any part of it.

"What did you do with him?" Blizzard shouted as foam was starting to surface from behind his fangs. He was looking like a wild and savage beast as he was shouting at the red dragoness.

"Are you really that blind? That you didn't look to his behind" Igüsa said, the rhyme into it made it sound very mocking.

"What did you do to him?" Blizzard shouted even louder now.

"I gave him a spanking!" Igüsa yelled it out now as she was just as angry as Blizzard was.

"You did what?" Blizzard shouted so hard that half of Warfang could have heard it.

"Afterwards he spanked me!" Igüsa added.

"How dare you hit my son!" Blizzard shouted as if he hadn't heard it.

"He gave me his permission!" Igüsa protested.

However Blizzard didn't seem to hear that either as he seemed beyond reason now "You!" He shouted.

"Yes what about me?" Igüsa said defiant.

"You're going to pay for hurting Frost tenfold you filthy whore bitch!" Blizzard shouted in such a savage manner that he had the appearance of an untamed beast. Foam was almost all around his mouth and all his muscles were stressed to their limit.

He speeded towards her filled with rage. Igüsa was baffled by him acting like that so it caught her off guard.

Blizzard rammed Igüsa and he slammed her into the wall with enormous force.

Igüsa squealed as she could feel her body being crushed by the brutal and savage ice dragon.

Blizzard was more than a metre taller than Igüsa was and his weight was almost twice hers. He was clearly far stronger than she was.

When he took a step back Igüsa fell to the floor and gasped to get air back into her lungs. She could feel a strong pain in her right wing.

Blizzard didn't let her go but raised his right paw and lashed at her.

He hit her on the side and made a triple set of deep claw marks that were almost 1,5 metres long.

Blood was seeping out and Igüsa screamed from the pain.

"No!" Igüsa thought as she suppressed the pain.

"I won't cower in front of this brute" She grinded her teeth and somehow she found the strength to get herself back to her feet.

She forced her legs muscles to contract and jumped towards her ferocious attacker.

Grabbing hold of his side and she seeped her claws as deep into his shoulders as she could.

The much larger ice dragon didn't seem impressed by it at all however and its only success seemed to be to make him even more angry than he already was.

With Igüsa's claws still into him he smashed against the wall with his shoulder to try and crush her with his weight.

Igüsa wanted to scream as it felt like her body was compressed to just a few centimetres but she swallowed the sound as she would let Blizzard just do as he pleased.

Ignoring the breaking pain of her crushed body she bit him his shoulder with all her might and she felt like she would never let go of him.

This time Blizzard did give a yelp as it pained him but it clearly wasn't enough to stop him.

He bent down and grabbed Igüsa by her neck.

He gave a mighty pull and Igüsa tried to hold on to him with everything she had.

However Blizzard was just too strong for her and he pulled her mouth and all of her 12 claws off of him while Igüsa was powerless to stop him.

He swung his head with a wild swing and threw Igüsa away from him.

Once again Igüsa collided with the wall of the house with full force.

She screamed in pain as she could feel her hip break from the heavy blow.

Not waiting for another second Blizzard fired an ice shard at her while she was laying crippled on the floor, unable to protect herself.

Igüsa tried to get up and get out of the way but a sharp jolt from her broken hip quickly brought her back to the ground and right in the path of the incoming ice shard.

The ice shard was a direct hit and pierced her chest scales. It gave of a horrible sound as it went through her flesh.

Igüsa squealed with everything she had as the agonizing shot impaled her body.

Blood started to slowly leak out from the plugged hole in her on her chest and Igüsa strength was already expired.

Igüsa was no fighter. Despite his attitude Blizzard was a powerful dragon and she was just absolutely no match for him.

The ice dragon raised his strong paw again and prepared to punish the broken and defenceless dragoness even more.

Igüsa didn't have the strength anymore to resist with her wounds paining her and her hip forcing her down.

She just closed her eyes and waited for Blizzard to inflict even more pain.

* * *

However Igüsa's eyes shot open again when she heard a thunderous blast coming from outside.

Immediately afterwards she was blinded by a brilliant flash of light as the wall was blown to pieces by an extremely powerful attack.

As soon as she recovered her vision she spotted a small dragon walk into the house. He had a furious look in his eyes that had the motivation to kill.

"Oxidus?" Igüsa shouted in surprise.

Her brother turned to see her and his eyes filled with even more rage when he saw his sister crippled on the floor.

The ice shard was very prominent as it was stuck in her and was more than a metre long. Her three large wounds on her side were also over a metre long and you could tell by her stance that she had broken some bones as well.

"You!" Oxidus shouted with an amount of anger that shocked Igüsa.

This dragon only motivation now was to kill. Not to fight or defend. Only to kill and destroy.

"Get out you!" Blizzard shouted. When compared to how Oxidus looked Blizzard looked perfectly calm and sweet. It sounded pathetic what he was saying to him despite the difference in size.

"You dare hurt the one I love!" Oxidus sounded extremely dangerous. Igüsa just couldn't believe this dragon was really her younger brother. She had seen Oxidus angry before but he was now so full of rage that she didn't recognise him anymore.

His bright orange eyes burned with a fire that was completely foreign to her. It wasn't like the fire of passion or excitement he once had at all. It was a look of anger, rage and even bloodlust. The look in his eyes pained Igüsa more than all of her wounds combined.

Blizzard also seemed beyond reason with rage and that Oxidus had blew up his house only made him even more angry.

Blizzard was far larger than Oxidus but the air around Oxidus seemed so dangerous and Oxidus looked so destructive that the size difference looked totally irrelevant.

Not waiting for another second Blizzard breathed a liquid ice stream towards Oxidus.

Oxidus opened his mouth and unleashed a highly concentrated beam of fire. He braced his body as the shot gave a powerful recoil.

The two attacks clashed and both dragons tried to push their attacks towards the other.

They kept forcing more and more energy into it to keep its clashing point away from themselves and push it towards their opponent.

Suddenly Oxidus' attack was starting to gain the upper hand as it seemed Blizzard couldn't force any more power into it. Blizzard was strong but it seemed that Oxidus was even stronger.

The colliding point of the two attacks got closer and closer to him and finally Blizzard couldn't push it back any more and was hit in the face by the powerful blast of fire.

Blizzard was blasted away and collided with the wall of his house. Books and stuff fell down as the house shook from the collision.

Blizzard squealed but he found his strength again and got back to his feet. He did look a bit limp however as the attack clearly had done some sort of internal damage.

Blizzard lashed out with his tailblade at Oxidus but he easily rolled away and dodged it.

While Oxidus rolling over dodging the strike he when blasted a large fireball at the ice dragon before Blizzard even had a change to see what he was doing.

Blizzard was staggered but kept his balance. Not ready to give up yet to the dragon less than a quarter his size.

He now jumped towards Oxidus with his hind legs and tried to tear him apart in close combat.

Blizzard was clearly thinking that because their size difference he could win it in close combat easily from the young Oxidus.

However it didn't turn out to be as easy as he thought it would be. Oxidus fought fiercely and continued to resist. Blizzard tried to grab him by his tail but Oxidus just wouldn't sit still long enough for him to do it.

They kept clawing away at each other and Oxidus proved both strong and fast as Blizzard never could hit him or grab hold of him.

Suddenly Oxidus spotted an opening in Blizzard's assault as he dodged a powerful strike from the right.

The heavy paw still had speed so it flew past him and Blizzard hadn't lifted up his other paw yet.

This meant Blizzard now had neither paws close to Oxidus so Oxidus was free for about one second.

That second was all he needed and he jumped towards Blizzard's chest.

He bit his opponent right in the middle of the chest and hang on to it. He was scratching and fighting as he hang suspended in the air from the dragon's high chest. From this position he tried to do as much damage as he could.

Blizzard was shaking his chest back and forth but Oxidus' grip was much too strong to be released from that. Because Oxidus was at his chest he couldn't use his paws or his mouth to pull him off.

Suddenly Oxidus was able to dig his claws into Blizzards scales so now he had an anchor point upon which he could exert force.

He dug his claws as deeply into Blizzard as he could and Blizzard screamed out. However the worst for him was yet to come.

Using every single one of the large muscles in his body he gave a mighty heave and pulled at the chest scales with all his might.

Suddenly the scales he was holding on to separated from the body and Oxidus fell on the ground. He was still having the former chest scales of Blizzard attached to his claws as well as holding onto the flesh that had come off with the scales.

Blood poured out from the gaping hole and Blizzard screamed with a defaming shout of pain. Everyone could sense the magical energy that he racing out of his body.

He put his paw and pressed it against his wound but that was futile.

The wound was more than half a square metre in size and blood continued to gush out at a horrifying rate.

A puddle of the escaped red liquid was quickly formed under him. It was a scene of absolute massacre.

Oxidus then jumped at the ice dragon again, he was so full of anger he wasn't thinking clearly anymore.

He swung his tail around and he buried the hook on the end of his tail deeply into the flesh of the dragon's right shoulder.

The barbs on the ends of the hooks firmly grabbed hold of their prey and Oxidus' tail was now stuck inside Blizzard while Oxidus was hanging upside down near his shoulder.

Blizzard bucked, turned and twisted but it was of no use. Oxidus' barbs was had firmly grabbed hold and they wouldn't let go of their prey.

Oxidus' weight combined with Blizzard's own movements caused the hook stuck inside of him to move very slightly and put an agonizing pressure on his flesh.

Blizzard's strength was quickly draining; from the pain and from the loss of blood that was still pouring out of his chest.

Oxidus was also lashing out with his claws and biting into the ice dragons scales. Oxidus was appearing wild and dangerous, truly a monster of destruction.

The scales of a dragon are quite hard so he mostly made only scratches but with his tail was still stuck into Blizzard it was torture for the ice dragon.

Blizzard then made a powerful swinging motion to throw Oxidus in his direction and then he bent his head to grab Oxidus in his mouth.

The move put much pressure on his flesh and there was now a bulge on his side as Oxidus' tail barbs still wouldn't let go. Blizzard was in very much pain right now.

He clenched his jaws from the pain and Oxidus was now in his mouth.

Oxidus felt the sharp teeth of the ice dragon pierce into his red scales and he squealed out from the pain as he struggled between the mighty jaws.

It felt to him like he was being broken in half but in reality Blizzard no longer had the strength to do that.

Blizzard was in just as much pain as Oxidus was and he redirected it all towards his jaw muscles to try and crush the fire dragon.

Suddenly Oxidus braced his tail muscles and with every ounce of strength he had he gave a mighty pull with his tail to try and escape.

Blizzard tried to keep him in place but he was greatly weakened from the pain and the loss of blood so he just couldn't summon the strength he needed.

Oxidus slit from between the jaws but the razor sharp dragon teeth left a large number of gashes in addition to the piercing marks that he already had suffered in Blizzard's mouth.

Not waiting a second Oxidus quickly flapped his wings to turn around so that he was facing into the direction of the ice dragon's head again.

Using every bit of energy he could summon in one second he fired a high speed fire stream toward the head of the ice dragon.

The dragon was hit on the side of his head but didn't take much damage as the blast was not really charged and it wasn't a direct hit.

However the recoil from the blast in the addition to the speed of his pull made Oxidus go so fast that the hook finally pulled loose from the ice dragon.

The barbs on the hook however still wouldn't let go and when they were torn out of the body they took a large chunk of Blizzard's flesh with them.

The chunk of meat that was on the end of Oxidus' tail was almost the size of Blizzard's head and still slightly dripping of blood.

It quickly fell off but the barbs had already done their gruesome job.

The ice dragon now scrunched down as he was bleeding heavily from two large gaping wounds now.

The two wounds were spewing out blood at a horrible rate and Blizzard looked defeated and expired.

Oxidus however looked far from satisfied with this fight and breathed another fire stream at the ice dragon.

The ice dragon tried to put his wings in front to protect him but they were no match for the overwhelming power of Oxidus.

The wings were burned extensively and it seemed that almost half of the membrane was completely gone.

Blizzard's screams of agony gave only a mild indication of the pain he was feeling.

Oxidus then used a comet dash and rammed Blizzard right in his chest.

He rammed Blizzard so hard that the wall he forced him in to gave way and Blizzard was laying broken on the streets.

Now outside Oxidus continued to bite and claw away at the ice dragon. Making more and more wounds. He was completely out of himself with anger and wouldn't stop.

Blizzard was completely drained of all his energy. He had incalculable wounds everywhere on his body and had large gaping holes in his chest and shoulder from which he was loosing blood and energy fast. His broken bones crimpled him, he had numerous burn wounds and half his wings were charred away.

Oxidus was still filled with rage and didn't stop. It looked like he was willing to truly kill his enemy by tearing him to shreds. Oxidus wouldn't stop until he was feeling satisfied and he seemed insatiable.

He bit into the ice dragons belly and tore away another part of his hide. With Blizzard so weak now he didn't need much strength anymore to do serious damage. This now brought the number of open wounds on Blizzard the three.

Blizzard squalled blindly as the hellish red demon continued his assault on the exhausted ice dragon.

Blizzard didn't have any more energy left, he was barely aware of what was happening except that he was in agonizing pain.

Oxidus never stopped attacking and before long Blizzard was drenched in his own blood.

Not that Oxidus was clean himself because he was bloody too from the bite wounds all over his body that was also mixed with the blood from the exhausted ice dragon.

Oxidus now suddenly ran up to the dragons throat and lashed at it with his powerful claws.

He was now going to kill the ice dragon that hurt his sister. Nothing seemed to be able to stop the ferocious dragon from killing his broken, beaten and defeated opponent.

Just as his claws were about to decapitate his enemy Oxidus was hit by a powerful blast on the side and crashed into the side of a house in the street.

The blast was not from a physical attack or an ice attack. It was from an attack that had come from another fire dragon.

"Oxidus STOP!" Oxidus looked up and he vaguely spotted Igüsa staggering out of the house.

"Igüsa?" Oxidus exclaimed in disbelief. He had almost completely forgotten that she was still here but why had she stopped him?

"This isn't you Oxidus, please, don't do it" Igüsa begged although exhausted and very weak. However the words still came like blows to Oxidus.

He felt like his eyes suddenly shot open and he now looked at the crippled ice dragon to see what he had done.

Blizzard's normal blue colour had almost completely disappeared. The only colour visible was crimson red as he was drenched in blood.

The large torn up holes in his side and chest were still spewing out blood that was quickly forming a lake around the ice dragon. Oxidus could now no longer feel the magical dragon energy from Blizzard as it seemed to be all gone. His ragged wings and broken body was looking like a death corps while it lay motionlessly on the street.

However his weak breathing indicated that Blizzard was still alive. He was unconscious from the pain and blood loss but he was still alive.

* * *

"Dad!" The perplexed Oxidus heard Frost running up to his father shocked by the state he was in.

"Come on dad, wake up! Wake up!" Frost shook the motionless body of his father.

What he did was of no use, his father was much too injured and exhausted to respond.

"Please dad no" Frost buried his head into his father's blood stained body while crying heavily.

Oxidus was stunned as Frost kept crying and screaming in grief.

"Dad, don't leave me" Frost shouted in tears.

"What in the name of the ancestors has happened here!" Cyril now arrived at the scene as well and he was followed quickly by Terrador.

"Quickly! We have to get him to the healer" Terrador said as he already turned and bend down, ready to carry Blizzard on his back.

There was no time for explanations or to asses the situation. Blizzard needed help now!

"Oxidus?" Cynder and Spyro were on Terrador's side and were shocked by the murderous scene.

"I will take Blizzard Cyril, you take the female" Terrador said not having the time to explain things here.

"Okay Terrador. You! Help me put her on my back" He was speaking to Oxidus but he didn't know his name.

By now many stunned dragons and other creatures had started to arrive as they were lured by all the rumble of the battle.

"Oxidus!" Oxidus spotted Georga coming towards him with a stunned look on her face.

However the sight of Igüsa quickly pushed that away, she needed to help her first.

Oxidus and Georga helped Igüsa on Cyril's back. The explanations had to wait until later.

Frost, together with Spyro and Cynder helped Blizzard and they quickly went to the healer with them. Cyril carried Igüsa while Georga and Oxidus escorted him while they followed.

* * *

A minute later Frost came running through the healer's office.

"What's the big rush?" The mole at the desk asked surprised by his panic.

"Quickly my dad is dying!" Frost shouted while panting from exhaustion.

Frost had flown ahead to warn the healer and had raced to be there as fast as he could.

The mole pulled the cord that rang the bell and only seconds later Terrador and Cyril entered carrying Blizzard and Igüsa respectively.

"Oh my goodness" the mole exclaimed from looking at the state of Blizzard.

"We don't have much time. Get the healer dragon quickly" Terrador said using his battle experience to retain his calmness. However that it was urgent was very easy to hear.

The mole pulled on the cord again and again in only a few seconds.

Just then an electric dragoness came sprinting from the curtain. The repeated ringing had indicated for her that it was an emergency.

She was rather small and with a slender build. She had 4 horns, large paws, brown wings and a forked tail appendix. She looked very kind dragoness and was an excellent healer.

"Come in here" She said clear and with a controlled haste. She pointed to the room she had just come from as it seemed to be the main treatment room.

Terrador walked in together with Blizzard while Spyro and Cynder were helping to keep him in place.

"Sorry but I needs space" The dragoness said to the many onlookers that had followed them.

"What about Igüsa?" Oxidus said as she was practically being ignored.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine" Igüsa said weakly from the back of Cyril.

"You can let me go now, I think that I can walk again" She wheezed to reassure everyone.

"Are you sure about that?" Cyril asked although he would like to have the heavy load off of him.

"I'm sure" Igüsa forced out a smile.

Cyril let Igüsa gently slide off his back and she got to her feet again.

Oxidus quickly raced up to her and helped pull herself to her feet.

Her broken bones made her stand awkwardly and she still looked a bit weak and injured.

"Please don't worry about me" She urged.

"She said everyone out!" The mole assistant said while he drove out every dragon in the room.

Frost was also being let away but he kept refusing to go.

"I won't leave!"

"The healer clearly said-" The assistant started.

"He can stay here" Terrador said as he walked out of the treatment room "He is the son"

"Okay then fine" The mole sounded really agitated and he let Frost stay.

"Wait! What about Oxidus and Igüsa?" Georga asked as they also needed treatment.

The mole turned back inside the treatment room to ask the healer.

"They go there" The mole said as he reappeared only a few seconds later.

He was pointing towards another part of the healer's office. Most likely it was another treatment room.

"One of the apprentices will take care of them. Will you please now all leave" He urged.

Oxidus and Igüsa walked towards the other treatment room and Georga was coming along as well. She was still out of words by what was going on and she would not leave them. Igüsa kept clenching as her hip send painful jolts of pain with each step she took.

"I said everyone leave" The mole said sternly directed to Georga.

"She is with me" Igüsa said as she would want Georga to be with Oxidus right now. With what happened Oxidus needed Georga by his side.

"Okay fine" The mole said as he chased everyone else out of the room.

"Spyro!" Igüsa shouted before they were out of the room.

"Yes?"

"Go and see if you can find Furno anywhere, he is with Zerzelie now" Igüsa asked.

"Okay I will" Spyro replied as he helped Cynder along who was feeling very reluctant to leave Igüsa.

* * *

In the main treatment room Frost was looking very anxious to his dad.

His body was torn up and broken, the table was already blood stained. "Is he going to make it?" He asked the dragon healer fearfully.

"I don't know" The dragoness replied "I am going to need silence so I would like it if you kept silent" She said sternly.

Frost didn't say anything more and watched her put her paw on his father's body and he could feel the energy flow between the healer and his father.

Frost had learned something about healing in his studies and he knew that she was now diagnosing him.

It was done always so that a healer dragon can spot the spots that they need to heal and also how they needed to do that.

It took only two minutes but for Frost it seemed like two hours before the dragoness finally was finished with examining him.

"I think he will make it. There are no serious internal injuries and no other forms of critical damage. I also don't see anything that could lead to complications" She said. "There are some broken bones and the number of wounds is high. He has lost considerable amount of blood and also a large amount of energy is lost. There are some minor internal injuries in his stomach"

Then came the words that Frost hoped so much to hear "However I don't spot any internal damage that I can't heal. A large bunch of red crystal will do for the surface wounds and after some rest I think that he'll be fine"

"That's great" Frost said very happy.

He now turned gleefully towards the healer dragon. "Thank you so much" he bowed in respect.

However the gruesome sight of his father dropped his mood quickly down again.

"I don't think there is much you can do here. Why don't go to the other room and check up on the other patients" The dragoness suggested. She seemed neither pleased nor embarrassed by Frost's gratitude. She has seen these kind of things countless times.

Frost didn't want to leave his father's side when he was in such a state but at the same time the healer had said that he couldn't do anything for him now.

He also really wanted to hear what had happened to his father and he also was worried about Igüsa.

He thought it over and after about a minute he walked out of the main treatment room.

He stopped just before he walked through the curtain and looked back "Bye dad, get better" He said as the electric dragoness put her paws on his father again and she started to glow as she began healing.

He walked through the now empty hallway and entered the other treatment room.

This one was the same size as the main treatment room but it had far fewer stuff and equipment. There was no stone table so Igüsa and Oxidus were laying on the floor.

They were treated by two healer dragons and Georga was sitting next to Oxidus.

The healer dragons were both young adult males. One was an ice dragon and he guessed him at 33 and the other one was an earth dragon who he guessed at 23. Though they were apprentices they were perfectly capable of handling a case like this.

"Frost? What are you doing here?" Georga asked as she spotted him.

"The healer sent me away saying I could be of more use here" Frost answered.

"How are you two doing?" He asked right afterwards to Igüsa and Oxidus.

They were laying on the floor and the healer dragons had just finished with their diagnose.

"They have no serious injury. The male has only a few superficial bite wounds and those are healed with just a bunch of crystals. The female has a broken hip and some compressed organs so that will require some work" the older one of the apprentices answered.

"Frost? What are you doing in here?" Igüsa asked with a sharp tone as she now noticed him standing in the room as well. "You go back to your father right now!" She ordered.

"But-" Frost protested as he wasn't sure what to think anymore.

"No buts" Igüsa almost snapped. "Oxidus and I are fine. You go and stay by your father's side until he wakes up" She tried to sound stern but her strength was still weak. "I don't want to so you again until it is by his side!"

"I won't leave him again Igüsa" Frost assured her as he walk out to rejoin his father again.

He switched rooms again and walked through the curtain as slowly as he could as to not disturb the concentration of the healer dragon.

She was busy transferring energy to his father's body and Frost watched as the wounds on his father's body slowly started to heal.

Suddenly the dragoness released him and was gasping for air. She had transferred a very large amount of energy and she was very tired now.

"Young dragon" She turned to him, not asking why he had returned.

"Could you go and smash some crystals for me?" She asked.

Frost didn't speak but walked to the piles of red crystal in the room and used his tail to smash them into bits.

Carrying them on his wings he brought them back to his father where they magically flew into his wounds.

Frost then returned to the pile and smashed and brought more shards. First he brought red crystals to heal his father's wounds and later the dragoness ordered him to bring green crystals to replenish his lost energy.

"I think that will do it" The dragoness concluded after all the wounds were gone and Blizzard had absorbed a lot of crystals.

Seeing as he couldn't do anything more Frost ran up towards his father as he wanted to crawl up to him. He knew it wouldn't help but he just felt like he had to do something.

Suddenly he was stopped as the healer dragon put her tail in front of him and blocked his path.

"You must let him rest. His body is still very tired from the punishment it has suffered. I think he will wake up in a few hours"

"Thank you very much" Frost bowed again, very grateful that his father was going to be alright. He had to pay his respects and be gentle with his father now.

"Can I please be with him" He asked the adult dragoness. He would respect a no but he wanted a yes more than anything.

"You can, but please let him rest" The dragoness lifted her tail and let Frost jump up the table and lay down next to his father.

Frost got up as gently as he could and got as close as possible without disturbing his sleeping father.

"Dad" Frost whispered as he lay down next to him.

His father gave no reply but Frost didn't blame him.

He closed his eyes and being very worried about him he quickly fell asleep next to his father.

After about three hours Frost woke up as he suddenly felt something move against his side.

"Dad!" Frost exclaimed as his father was awake now.

He happily rubbed his head against his father's side, overjoyed that his father was alive.

"Frost" Blizzard whined weakly.

"Daddy I'm so glad that you're alright" He said having tears in his eyes from joy.

Blizzard didn't answer and laid back down. Although he was awake now he was still very tired.

Frost's excitement was broken by that but he just laid down and allowed his father to have all the time he needed to recover.

* * *

Meanwhile in the room next to them Georga was keeping Igüsa and Oxidus company as they waited for Blizzard to return.

Igüsa had told her what had happened in broad lines and she was shocked by it for sure. However she didn't give any details.

Igüsa had insisted that they didn't leave until Blizzard was up to his feet again.

"Iga, Oxus!" Georga suddenly heard a high pitched tone that could only come from one dragon.

"Furno!" Igüsa beat her to it by calling his name.

"Iga okay?" He asked very worried.

"Sure I'm fine and your brother will be okay as well" she said for him as Oxidus almost never spoke.

"What happened?" Furno asked.

Neither Igüsa nor Oxidus gave a reply to that.

"Oxidus, what happened?" Georga urged as she was very anxious to know more about it too.

Oxidus didn't reply and looked away.

"Now is not the time yet Georga" Igüsa said to her "Let's say it when Blizzard is better"

Furno now crept under her head and rubbed against her. She bent down and they nuzzled each other.

"I'm going to check up on Blizzard" Georga said.

"Just be quiet" One of the apprentice healer dragons said to her.

"I will" Georga whispered back.

She changed rooms and walked into the main treatment room.

"You're awake! Dad" Georga heard just as she entered the room.

Frost jumped off the table and Blizzard gently shove off.

Georga walked up to them happy that they were fine. The healer dragon had already left the room.

"Hi there Georga" Frost said now sounding very happy.

"Where are the maid and her brother?" Blizzard asked right away.

"Oh, Igüsa is in the room next door" Georga said a bit surprised.

"I have a few things I want to say to her" Blizzard said now newfound strength.

He walked out of the room with Frost still by his side and Georga followed them back again to the room she had just left.

Blizzard and Frost walked through the curtain and Georga tried to stay out of sight. This wasn't involved so it would be better if she kept out.

"Igüsa" Frost said trying to draw her attention.

"Oh, Blizzard, are you okay?" Igüsa asked as she finally got up from the ground after laying there for hours.

"I'm good but you're fired!" Blizzard said raising his voice.

"What!" Igüsa exclaimed totally taken aback by it.

"But why?" Frost asked who was standing next to his father.

"You hurt Frost and then your brother almost killed me. That is enough reason for me to fire an employee" Blizzard summarized not turning to his son.

"Hey you!" Oxidus was getting up again as his rage returned.

"I don't think if you know it here but she saved your ungrateful tail!" He shouted rightfully angry.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Blizzard barked at the fire dragon.

"If I had my way you would be laying dead in the streets right now" Oxidus yelled as his body tensed again "She stopped me from killing you and she is the only reason you're still standing here"

"That's right Blizzard!" Georga said trying to support them.

"She constantly put herself second and you first. She sent Frost back to you and she wouldn't allow anyone to leave the healer until you were better!" Georga shouted at him also starting to get angry by Blizzard's ungratefulness to Igüsa.

"If it wasn't for her and her cursed brother I wouldn't be in this situation so she is fired!" Blizzard yelled overpowering all other voices in the room.

"Dad, she didn't hurt me at all" Frost still tried to chance his mind. Although the spanking was of course of insignificant value.

"We had a bit of a game and it was only for fun" He urged.

This was a very stupid thing to say now but Frost had problems keeping it together with his father nearly dying and then acting like a jerk again.

"She is FIRED!" Blizzard shouted just as he walked out of the room.

It was official now. Igüsa was no longer the maid of Blizzard. She was fired.

Frost quickly shifted his view back and forth as he didn't know who to follow.

Igüsa smiled and gestured for him to follow his father. He bowed to her in respect and quickly ran to catch up.

Oxidus wanted to ran up to Blizzard as well but as soon as he started to move Igüsa bit his tail to stop him.

Oxidus turned to her while snarling but when she released his tail and shook her head.

"No Oxidus, its fine, you don't have to take it up for me" she said soft and kindly.

Oxidus still was growling but he settled back down.

"Iga, what fire?" Furno asked.

"It's nothing Furno, don't worry about it" She said as she nuzzled to comfort him.

"I'm very sorry for ruining it Igüsa" Georga was very surprised to hear Oxidus talk softly.

"I never liked that guy anyway" Igüsa smirked as she tried to sound strong.

"I think we should go home now" Igüsa suggested "My guess is that it is already evening now"

"Why don't you go home now too Georga" Igüsa suggested.

"But-" Georga wanted to protest.

"It's okay, please don't worry yourself about us" Igüsa assured her.

Feeling very torn Georga left them and flew back home. She didn't play this evening either. As Georga put the chain of events together in her head she could feel something break in her chest.

* * *

Back inside her home Igüsa had finished dinner and the family was eating together again.

Oxidus was now eating as well and although he didn't say much he seemed to be living in the moment now instead of in his own thoughts

Igüsa had very little to say herself and the dinner was eaten without anyone speaking.

Oxidus played with Furno this evening. Igüsa had asked him and somehow he obeyed and played, something he normally would never do. This day however was an exception as was not surprising. Oxidus apparently felt great respect for Igüsa or guilt for his actions or maybe both.

When it was bed time Igüsa carried Furno to his bed and about an hour later Oxidus went to bed as well. They were all tired from the rough day.

Igüsa's bed time was normally one hour further than Oxidus but she curled herself up in her nest shaped bed as she was exhausted.

"What now?" Igüsa thought. With her brother now asleep she could finally drop the 'everything is alright' façade and take in the consequences.

"Oxidus' job is far too poorly paid to support us all!" she thought desperately.

"Blizzard's decision was final and I doubt I could crawl back to him after Oxidus almost ripped him to pieces" she dispelled that right away.

Igüsa now also started crying "What if I hadn't played that spanking game with Frost. Maybe I would still have my job"

"Spanking the son of my boss! How could I possibly be so stupid? The entire thing started with the spanking game" Igüsa dug her claws in her skull now.

"But are we going to live on the streets now?" Igüsa was starting to despair.

"No matter how small it is this house still has lease and with Oxidus' job we can't even buy enough food let alone pay that"

All kinds of doom futures appeared in Igüsa's head. The next one even darker than the last. They were going to live on the streets and be spit at and be kicked around by everyone that passed. No one had any mercy with beggars.

Suddenly a possible solution entered her mind.

She considered about maybe becoming a prostitute to make the money they needed. She had often heard that she was quite sexy after all.

However that thought was an unacceptable one for her. She would rather live on the streets forever than mate with a just one dragon for pay.

The doom oracles continued as Igüsa slowly fell to sleep with haunting nightmares about mating filthy males and being spit at while living in a dark and dirty allay.


	20. Aftermath

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 20 Aftermath**

Georga fired an earth shot towards her opponent.

It was heading straight for him but the dragon spun around and crashed the shot with one swipe of his tail.

Georga could hear the dragon laugh heartily at the easy of which he blocked her attack.

It was pitch dark so Georga couldn't see her opponent.

She fired another earth shot at him in the hope that if she kept attacking something might become clear. This time she forced more power into it so that he couldn't just smash it again with his tail.

The dragon suddenly unleashed a blast of flame to counter this more powerful attack what lightened up the room for about one second.

Within the short flash of light Georga could spot a dragon like figure that was about the same size as she was and because the counter attack was fire she deduced that it was a 13 aged fire dragon.

Hoping that he was blinded by the flash she jumped towards him. She knew his position now so she wanted to attack before he moved again.

However he wasn't blinded and sidestepped. Georga couldn't see him but for some reason her opponent could see her perfectly.

Georga could feel that she missed and fell hard on the floor.

She quickly turned around and shot an earth shot towards her opponent's most likely position.

She had to move quickly now that she still had an idea of where he was.

She heard a loud blow and the shot let out a few sparks when it disintegrated on his chest.

However the dragon didn't same faced by it at all and the shot didn't even leave a scratch.

Georga tried to get back up but was forced down by a powerful paw on her shoulder.

She struggled against the grip but it was futile. The dragon clearly was far stronger than she was.

She was now completely at his mercy.

"Here we are Georga" The fire dragon said with a voice that was so familiar to Georga that it shocked her.

"Oxidus?" She exclaimed. She couldn't see him but she would recognise his voice anywhere.

The room suddenly lit up and revealed that it was indeed Oxidus who was pinning Georga down with his paws.

He was covered in piercing marks and from those ran many gashes across his body. There was blood flowing out but for some reason it didn't seem to bother him at all.

"Oxidus why? I thought you were my friend" Georga whimpered from underneath him.

His blooded body scared her but nothing could come close to the burning fire that he had in his eyes. It was a fire of pure rage that seemed to burn away at her very heart.

"Indeed Georga, I was once your friend" Oxidus replied with a voice filled with the same rage as his eyes.

"But Fuoca was something you could never understand and you failed" He said in a dark and cold voice.

"Why? How?" Georga started to cry from underneath him.

"The Oxidus you knew is gone forever. This is the real me now" He was sounding even more malicious now.

"But, Oxidus-!" Georga squirmed to get away from him but Oxidus kept her pinned down.

"Let me go!" Georga yelled with all her might against the blood tainted monster.

"Farewell, old friend" Oxidus opened his mouth and Georga's eyes filled with fear as she could see the bright light from the incoming fire stream appearing in the back of his throat.

* * *

"NO!" Georga shot up now.

She was gasping deeply and magical energy was pouring out her body.

She looked frantically around the room in search for the monster that was on top of her but she found nothing.

She now recognised the room as her own. She could see the doll of Gaius, her toy shelf and her window from where the morning sun was starting to shine.

"A dream?" Georga thought looking panting at her paw.

It had all just been a nightmare. Oxidus hadn't hurt her, yet.

"Oxidus" Georga thought to her best friend again and about what he had turned into.

She had been shocked yesterday by the scene of massacre she walked into.

With Blizzard completely covered in blood and parts of his body ripped away. Oxidus having blood flowing from everywhere on his body and from seeing Igüsa crippled on the floor.

In the heat of the moment she put the emotions to wait and didn't really try to grasp what had happened. Back then there were people that needed her help.

Only when she had returned home let she finally sink everything in. When she had put the chain of events back together she was absolutely devastated by it.

It was clear Oxidus literally tore him apart and must have fought with rage and bloodlust. The Oxidus that she knew for so long had truly ripped Blizzard to shreds even when Blizzard was already defeated. On top of that he then even tried to kill a helpless and powerless dragon.

"How? How could you do that? You were never like this Oxidus" Georga had always known Oxidus as a very respective battler.

"You always said that you believed a real dragon should have respect for his opponent and to always keep himself under control. A true battler never does any more damage than is absolutely necessary. No real warrior would ever kill an opponent who is already defeated" Georga could remember all of Oxidus' battle speeches by heart as she had been fascinated by them. He often talked about what he learned at the dojo and Georga had always listened very closely to it.

"I don't know you anymore Oxidus" Georga started crying.

"Just what has happened to you? Who are you?"

That thing that was with her yesterday just seemed completely foreign to her. How the dragon she liked and looked up to so much had turned into that thing was beyond her understanding.

"Did I really fail you?" Georga thought with fear in her heart.

"No, I did everything I could!" She shook her head wildly like she was talking to herself.

"It's all his fault; he wouldn't allow me to do something. It's his fault the situation is like this anyway. If he had learned to control himself then Igüsa would still have her job!" Georga grinded her teeth in anger. He resented any help that she, Igüsa and everyone else kept offering him.

Although it was painful, Fuoca was gone and he just had to deal with it. Igüsa could do it so why can't he? He was just trying to make himself look pitiful! Someone like that wasn't even worth a dragoness like her!

But then Georga quickly released the pressure on her jaws and sighed "Oxidus" she sadly said to herself.

Georga just couldn't be angry at him. It was the easiest way to deal with it but she couldn't muster it to even do that. What Oxidus was and what he had turned into was just too painful to be settled by something as simple as anger.

"What can I do?" She thought out loud now as it was the one question she desperately wanted an answer for and was also the one she didn't have an answer for.

* * *

At the exactly same time the same thought was also going inside the head of a fire dragoness in an old decayed house.

"What can I do?" Igüsa thought desperately.

"Maybe…" The nasty thought appeared to her once again as it already had done many times before.

However she then shook her head so hard that her cervical hurt from it "No! No! No! No! No! I refuse to go that low" she clenched her teeth. As unacceptable as it was it did seem like it was the only plausible way for her to find a new job.

"Last time I searched for a job everywhere but I came up with absolutely nothing. I got my job with Blizzard because Frost was there and he convinced his father they needed a maid" Igüsa recalled as there was no job for her and Frost therefore had to create one for her.

"That such a miracle happens again is out of the question. Blizzard has made up his mind and there is no changing it. I'm fired as his maid and I will never work for him ever again" Igüsa was striping off all her possibilities one by one.

"Iga, problem?" Igüsa heard the high pitched voice of her little brother asking.

"No, everything is fine" she lied.

"Oh yeah, you sure don't look fine" Oxidus said sceptically. Oxidus rarely paid attention but this seemed to be an exception.

"What do you mean?" Igüsa asked a bit in panic as she was always doing her best to conceal her concerns and emotions. However Oxidus seemed to be able to spot her emotions perfectly as if she was hiding them behind a paint of glass.

"What are we going to do without you having a job?" Oxidus asked the exact same question Igüsa had been asking herself countless times already.

"We'll see Oxidus" Igüsa assured him. She tried. She did her best to keep them reassured but it didn't seem to work on Oxidus.

"Are you going to enter in the prostitution then?" Oxidus asked next as he seemed to be able to read her mind.

"I would never do that!" Igüsa yelled fiercely as it was a very sensitive topic for her.

"Iga, what's prostitution?" Furno asked.

"Well, um" Igüsa didn't know what to say to her three year old brother.

She couldn't possibly say what it really was to a three year old whelpling!

"It's something only adults can do" She said hoping it to be the best choice to say it didn't belong to his age group.

"What you do?" The next question was a clear indication that it wasn't a good choice. Bringing adults in it had made him only even more curious.

"We'll talk about that later" Igüsa hoped that would end it before she would be forced to say something that might give him hints.

Furno didn't ask it again so that meant it had worked.

With that thing settled Igüsa's mind shifted back to the matter of her unemployment

However the more she thought about it the worse it got.

She didn't know it anymore. She knew for sure that there wouldn't be a job for her. She had learned that last time as Frost had to create one for her first. What would they do now?

She couldn't get a job but she had to have one to support her family. Igüsa would truly do anything to support her brothers.

She owned it to her mother to take care of them.

* * *

Georga was eating together with Volt again but her mind wasn't in the room at all. It was somewhere very deep inside of her head.

"So Georga-" Volt said. He didn't continuo on his sentence because he felt it too painful to ask.

However he decided to still ask it so he continued "What happened?"

Georga sighed very deeply and didn't answer him. It almost looked like she hadn't heard him.

"Georga!" Volt raised his voice to put a little pressure on her.

"Blizzard attacked Igüsa and Oxidus defended her" Georga said emotionlessly.

"Blizzard attacked Igüsa?" Volt repeated in shock.

Georga looked away still wanting to say as little as possible.

Knowing no way to comfort her or to say anything Volt did nothing more.

Georga was looking empty and absent. She didn't look sad but just lifeless what was even worse.

"Georga" He mumbled, it almost looked like Georga was going down the same road as Oxidus what would a horrifying thought.

He loved her and he would do anything to help her but he just couldn't think of something he could do.

He just turned his attention back to the food but he didn't taste flavour.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the high parts of Warfang Frost was also struggling with the events of yesterday.

His mind was so full of the incident of it that Frost had barely slept at all during the night.

He was laying on a couch in the living room and he took another look around the house.

It was still badly damaged after the battle; the hole in the wall wasn't repaired yet and a large number of stuff was damaged or broken including the high priced clock.

His father had hired a repair crew and they would arrive this afternoon. After that his father had gone to the tournament. Frost remained at home, he said to welcome the repair crew but he just had too much on his mind to watch the cup.

Frost had been shocked when he saw his father nearly die.

He was really worried about him and when he awoke Frost felt like he couldn't be happier.

However his happiness and pity for his father was shattered when he fired Igüsa.

Frost also didn't know didn't know either what to think of Oxidus right now. On one paw he nearly killed his father but on the other paw he was only protecting his sister from harm. He had done something awful but he had his reasons.

Also Frost had always really liked Oxidus so hating him was difficult.

Oxidus had a bond with Igüsa that Frost felt as well so he just couldn't hate him for what happened.

"What now?" Frost had that question in his mind as well as seemed everyone had at this moment.

For him things would right now most likely go back to normal minus Igüsa. He still had a life to live unlike Georga and Igüsa.

However the thought of Igüsa being jobless felt very nasty and he still didn't know what to think of his father firing Igüsa after she put him always before herself despite the treatment she always got from him.

Frost let out a very deep sigh. "Is there something I could have done or can do right now?" He desperately wanted an answer to that question.

As if called for Frost heard someone knock on the door.

He got up and walked down to open the door. He was alone with his father gone now. His gang of dragon friends was busy with the tournament so he had been feeling a bit alone now and he would like some company.

Maybe it also someone was who could help him? He hoped as he opened the door.

He was surprised to see Spyro appearing from behind the door with Sparx floating beside him.

"Good morning Frost" Spyro said kindly as if nothing had happened.

"Good morning" Frost replied in the same tone although he most certainly knew what Spyro was coming to do.

"Well are we going to hear it already or not?" Sparx said inpatient.

"Come in and I will tell you" Frost said being sure they came to hear about yesterday. That Sparx was impatient didn't bother him as he didn't really want to draw it out anyway.

Spyro walked into the house and settled down on the leather couches. Sparx as rested on his head.

Frost took another couch and turned to face his friend.

"Well get out with it" Sparx urged as soon as they had made eye contact.

"So Frost, what happened yesterday?" Spyro asked now a bit more polite.

"Well I wasn't really there when it actually happened but from what I've heard Oxidus and my father fought fiercely" Frost began.

"My father sent me away when he had a quarrel with Igüsa for interacting with me. I had the feeling something was wrong so I went to get you. By chance I bumped into Oxidus and in my haste I told him his sister was in deep trouble. He reacted extremely fierce and stormed out of the citadel. I then instantly understood the grave mistake that I had made so I rushed to get you and the guardians" Frost told him.

"I of course can't be sure of precisely what happened but it is clear Oxidus was so full of rage that he nearly tore my father apart!" the mental picture of his dad in that horrible state still shocked Frost so he almost yelled the last few words.

"Well he had it coming" Sparx said a bit vengeful.

Frost looked venomously at Sparx who gulped and hid behind Spyro's horn.

"Oxidus really was that ferocious?" Spyro asked to continuo the conversation. He didn't even seem to notice Sparx.

"It seems like he was but that's not the end of it" Frost said sadly. Also forgetting about that comment from Sparx.

"After you two went away I stayed with my father. The healer told me that I could better go to Igüsa but she sent me back saying she was fine and I shouldn't leave my father. I protested a bit but she ordered me to go to my father and not leave his side until he was awake again" Frost explained.

"After a couple of hours my father had recovered and he instantly went to the room of Igüsa" Frost now stopped as he had trouble to continuo the story.

"Then he scolded at Igüsa and fired her" he sighed

"He fired Igüsa after she put him before herself despite his horrible treatment of her?" Spyro said in disbelief.

"Well what a surprise from him" Sparx said sarcastically

Frost didn't reply to it as he couldn't think of something to say.

"I tried to convince him but his mind was set and now Igüsa is without a job" He finished.

"Is your father okay?" Spyro asked.

"He's fine, after a good night sleep he was completely recovered. According to the healer no injuries were severe and she has healed them all" Frost said what disclosed that chapter.

"But who I'm worried about is Igüsa, I know how poor she is and without a job Igüsa can't support her brothers" Frost said as she was the one who needed help.

"I also know they have almost no saving so they will be out of food and other things very soon"

"Now what?" Frost asked Spyro the question that was racing through both their heads.

There was a silence that hang for seconds but with the situation like this it seemed like hours.

"We just have to go and find her a new job then" Sparx finally said gleefully to break the silence as it was starting to get to him.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Frost asked in sceptically. His voice almost had a sarcastic tone to it.

"Sparx is right Frost, that is what we have to do" Spyro allied with his brother.

"Like what Spyro?" Frost now almost shouted as it seemed they thought it could just be done like that.

"What are we supposed to do about it?"

"I think that we can get her a job again" Spyro said still sounding determined.

"Like what?" Frost now shouted as they didn't listen to him. Spyro seemed to think it was a piece of cake to find Igüsa a new job but in the overpopulated dragon city finding a job was extremely difficult.

"You're the one with the riches, can't you think of something?" Sparx asked to Frost.

"I can't ask my father again so what do you suppose?" Frost said accusing to Sparx.

"You keep saying it is so simple after all!" Frost said with a bit of anger.

"Wait a second! I think have an idea" Spyro said standing up on the couch.

* * *

Igüsa was still desperately thinking about any possible jobs but she hadn't thought of anything yet.

The prostitution thing was so prominent in her mind that she didn't think about other ideas.

As much as she hated it she just couldn't get it out of her head.

"Maybe it is the solution after all" Igüsa thought defeated after coming up with zero ideas for hours.

"No! I refuse to abuse my body just to make money" She said out loud.

However the problem still there and she needed to come up with a solution for it.

"What can I do, what can I do" Igüsa kept worrying about it so much that it started to drive her nuts.

Oxidus was gone because he had a match and Igüsa had insisted that he would fight it.

Since she didn't show up at her match yesterday Igüsa knew she was disqualified but it didn't matter as there were more important things to think about than the tournament.

Igüsa let out a deep sigh as she was very tired.

Her body was feeling heavy and it felt like she had been up for days on end.

This wasn't really what was going on however.

The pressure she put on herself was having a toll and all her worrying made it only worse.

Igüsa just walked to her bed to try and rest a bit.

She laid down and tried to relax but that seemed impossible.

Her mind was filled with images of poverty and prostitution and rest was something she couldn't find.

Igüsa buried her head in her paws while she started crying.

She didn't feel sad but just so helpless and under pressure. What could she possibly do?

"Iga?" A high pitched voice sounded what awoke her from her trance.

"What!" she snapped fiercely while she shot her head up towards the origin point.

Suddenly she spotted her little brother cringed in a fearfully and taking a few steps back from her.

"You okay?" The tiny fire dragon asked to the full grown dragoness who was more than ten times his size.

"Sure Furno, I'm fine" Igüsa said in the most soothing voice she could summon at this moment.

This was probably worst lie that had ever escaped her mouth. Igüsa right now was driving herself completely insane with all her worrying and despair.

* * *

In the citadel Ember was right now entering the battle ring as her third and final match of the preliminaries approached.

She had beaten Zerzelie yesterday with ease because also Zerzelie was helpless against her secret weapon.

Now she was going to battle it out against a friend. She had partially fought against Flame but that wasn't a real battle.

Therefore to be really fighting against a friend was a new experience for her but it was nothing Ember couldn't handle.

Inge was a young dragoness of a similar build as Ember. She was slightly larger and had a more robust build. She also looked a little bit older although they were of the same age. However that was only minor and the only significant difference was their colour.

Ember had seen Inge battle a couple of times before and she knew Inge could be very powerful.

She was looking very forward to this as it might be the first time she would have a battle that was actually a challenge for her to win.

The two young dragonesses walked to the centre of the arena and did the usual greet by slamming their tails.

"Finally someone who doesn't have to let his tail lay down" Ember though as her two previous opponents were both adults. When clashing tails with an adult it looked like a worm slamming against a snake.

This often made Ember feel quite puny so it was nice to fight someone her own size for a chance.

"Let's see what you're made of" Ember whispered to her opponent. As her body lit up from the fiery energy.

"You won't be disappointed" Inge whispered back as they nudged and turned away from each other.

Ember turned to face her and now activated her secret weapon.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Volteer shouted as he flapped his wings down.

* * *

Inge was the first to move and breathed a stream of fire towards Ember.

Ember didn't defend and she would take the hit head on. She had an evil smirk on her face and didn't even show the slightest hint of fear as the fire came rushing towards her.

The attack hit her full on but like normal she didn't feel anything from her. Inge's power was much too weak to get through her protective hide.

"Is that all?" Ember mocked as she walked unshaved out of the fire.

"If that's all you have to offer you might as well give up" She said taunting as she revealed her fangs and made sure Inge saw them.

Inge grinded her teeth and shot a powerful fireball at her.

Ember was hit full on again but only braced herself a little to keep her balance from the shockwave. The actual fireball didn't do anything.

Ember took a step towards and made her familiar sizzling sound to scare Inge.

"Ember how, what-what are you?" Inge stammered in disbelief.

Ember didn't reply and continued her steady pace and her sizzling sound.

Despite that this already was the third match in which she used it. That Ember was completely invulnerable to any attack was still difficult to grasp.

Inge unleashed her most powerful attack at Ember just like Ember's previous opponents had done before her in the hope it would at least do something.

She shot a perfectly straight fire stream at her that exploded on impact. Ember was hit full and was now surrounded by fire.

However Ember just walked out of the flames, completely unhurt and not even having any marks on her at all.

"What are you?" Inge asked once again unable to believe that something like this was even possible.

"I am the queen of burns" Ember answered darkly.

"Are you going to surrender or do you want to find out why?" Ember asked as she was sure Inge had seen one of her previous two matches.

Ember didn't move and gave Inge plenty time to think it over. She didn't burn her right away as a sign of their friendship.

Inge now suddenly turned around and breathed a fire at her.

Because of her spin it wasn't straight but bent around. It looked a bit like a fire whip.

The fire whip hit Ember on her chest but again didn't cause any damage through her protection and Ember didn't even flinch from it.

This was something new for Ember but it didn't matter as it didn't cause damage.

After seeing that her final attack was a failure as well Inge made her decision.

"You win Ember, this time" Inge sighed as she put her claw at her own throat.

* * *

"The winner is queen of burns Ember" Volteer declared.

Ember now deactivated her secret weapon and walked out of the arena feeling fully satisfied with herself.

"I did it!" She thought as it was her third win.

She had won her three matches and she knew perfectly well what that meant.

"I'm now in the victory tournament"

As she was walking through the hallway she had her head up high and her chest pronged forwards.

She was full of pride at her perfect winning streak. She had won all three of her matches with ease.

"That went perfect" She thought a bit cocky.

She had perfected her weapon only just before the tournament and it still sometimes failed when she pushed it too much. However even with that risk she had successfully used it and it had brought her victory three times in a row.

"And now I'm officially in the victory tournament" Ember just couldn't get enough of the thought that she was doing so well in this tournament.

This was something she had always longed for and it looked like she might actually have a shot at winning it. It was really a dream come through for the young fire dragoness.

Suddenly a new thought entered her mind "Flame and Oxidus" the thought of those two powerhouses now also occurred to her.

"They won't be easy to defeat, Oxidus defeated his opponent in mere seconds and Flame also completely overwhelmed his adversary" Ember remembered.

"Then there is also that Flannery" Ember had seen Flannery battle and she had to admit that she was impressed.

Flannery often was annoying and boasted a lot but she was able to put her money where her mouth was because she was doing an awesome job in the arena.

Ember decided just to go to the stands and watch the matches for the day.

But first she walked up to time-table to look for interesting matches to watch.

"11:30 Oxidus versus Volca. I wouldn't want to miss that"

The clock indicated half past ten so with little else to do she might as well just get to the stands.

Ember walked to the young dragon stands while her mind was still filled with the thought that she was now in the victory tournament.

Ember reached the stands quickly and settled down on the first empty spot she saw.

A battle was already going on so she looked to see who it was.

The match was fought between two unknown fire dragons and they were rather weak.

Ember didn't really find it interesting so she looked around to see if there was anyone to talk to.

Suddenly she spotted a red figure that was very familiar to her.

"Oh Flame" Flame was sitting only five metres away but he hadn't spotted her yet either.

"Oh, um, hi Ember" Flame stammered as he stiffened like he often did whenever he was around her.

Ember stood up and walked towards him. Flame was always entertaining to be with so with little else to do she decided to join him.

"Hi Electa, mind if I sit here?" She asked the electric dragoness who was sitting between her and Flame.

"Not at all Ember, go ahead" Electa moved to the side to let Ember sit between her and Flame.

Electa was from the orphanage as well and Ember had seen her before many times.

Ember walked into the newly created gap. She then turned around, put her wings to the sides of her body and laid down.

Ember was now less than a metre away from Flame and he didn't like it at all.

He tried to move a bit away from her but she just moved with him.

"So I'm into the victory tournament" Ember wanted to start a conversation and it was the first thing that came to her mind.

"Well, incredible! I mean, congratulations! I mean, it was expected, no I mean-" Flame was starting to panic as he couldn't figure out what to say to her. Ember was a strong dragon so that he was impressed she might take that as an insult.

"Thank you Flame" Ember interrupted him and moved her head a bit closer to him.

She was now so close that he could almost feel her body heat even though her heat attack wasn't even on.

"Um-" Flame tried to shove a bit further away from the pink dragoness but he felt that he pressed himself against the dragoness who was sitting to his right.

"Hey! Move aside you!" Flame heard a heavy female voice say aggressive.

"Sorry!" Flame shouted as he turned around.

The dragoness was almost deafened by Flame shouted mere centimetres from her sound receptors.

The dragoness snarled angrily at him and now Flame also recognised her right away as Flannery.

Feeling very scared he jumped sideways to be away from her.

However he forgot that Ember was still laying to his left and he bumped into her.

Ember was smiling very much as she tried not to laugh at him.

Half instinctively she spread her right wing and lifted it over the panicking Flame.

When she lowered it and it touched Flame she could feel him relaxing and calming down.

Flame lied back down with her wing covering him as a sort of blanked.

Ember right now was almost feeling like a mother with Flame under her wing. Both figuratively and literally.

"Like always" Ember thought smiling as she protected the shy and emotionally defenceless Flame.

* * *

Somewhere else in Warfang Cynder knocked on the door in front of the house of Georga.

She was very anxious to know what had happened yesterday and Georga seemed like the best place for her to go to.

Spyro had gone to Frost for it but she had decided she wanted to know it from Georga.

She patiently waited and after about a minute Volt opened the door.

However the look in his eyes surprised her "Oh, hi, Cynder" He said very sad and down.

"Something wrong?" Cynder asked very curious to his depressive mood.

"No, of course not" Volt's voice instantly shot up and his sadness suddenly vanished.

Volt was clearly hiding something. There was something not right here at this moment.

"I've come to visit Georga" Cynder said as it was her usual reason for being here.

"Well come in then" Volt said friendly as he opened the door.

Cynder walked in and quickly searched the room for Georga.

However she couldn't see Georga anywhere in the room.

"Where's Georga?" she asked Volt. Georga was home because if she wasn't Volt would have sent her away.

"Her room" Volt said his voice turning down again.

Cynder went to Georga room but she still found Volt's attitude very strange.

Cynder walked through the curtain and spotted Georga laying half asleep with her back to her.

"Hey, Georga!" Cynder addressed doing her best to sound as cheerful as possible.

Georga didn't reply nor did she look back. It seemed like she really was asleep but her head was lifted and her wings were up so that meant she was awake and had heard her calling.

"Hallo! Georga!" Cynder said louder now.

"Hi, Cynder" Georga said without turning to look at Cynder.

The tone that she had was very strange. Georga usually had an energetic voice that sometimes had mischievous tendencies.

But now her voice was empty. It had no sadness, anger, happiness or any emotion at all in it.

"So Georga, how are you feeling?" Cynder asked as Georga attitude really indicated that something was seriously wrong.

"I'm good" Georga said very unconvincing.

"So, how about it, you know, what happened yesterday?" Cynder asked trying to be careful with that topic.

Cynder waited for five seconds to Georga silence before concluding that Georga wasn't going to answer her question.

Getting enough of talking to Georga´s back Cynder walked around her to look to her face now.

"What is going on with you!" Cynder demanded as Georga was behaving very strange.

Georga just diverted her gaze away so that she didn't look at her.

"Georga!" Cynder said a bit fiercer.

"Just go" Georga said while still avoiding eye contact. The voice had no strength in it but only sadness what was very unlike Georga.

Cynder was quite struck by her voice but she wouldn't let Georga sent her away so easily.

She decided to bring up an emotional but less heavy topic to at least try and get Georga to talk.

"Oxidus' match is up soon" She chose it as the best option because Georga has never missed one of his matches.

"I rather stay-" Georga started but Cynder didn't let her finish the sentence.

"You're not going to watch!" Cynder exclaimed in shock.

"I thought you said he was your best friend!"

Georga kept silent from that.

"Georga!" Cynder yelled at her.

Georga let out a deep sign and now finally made eye contact with Cynder.

However the look in Georga's eyes was more than Cynder could handle.

Her eyes were completely empty. There was no life, no spirit, no emotion, there nothing in it. Georga was completely broken inside.

Cynder took a step back and looked astonished at her friend who lay mortified before her.

"So are you going to watch his match" Cynder said needing every bit of self control not to get emotional.

"I will" Georga said as she slowly got up and walked out of the room.

"Georga" Cynder couldn't believe that the dragoness she had just talked to was actually Georga. The look in her eyes and the tone in her voice…

It was something she had never seen before. Even when Georga was devastated after Oxidus attacked her she wasn't like this.

"What is going on with her?" Cynder thought as Georga seemed so empty and broken that Cynder could feel pain herself when their eyes met.

She walked out of the room after Georga as it seemed her role here was over.

She stopped when she spotted Volt looking sad and almost disappointed.

"Hey Volt?" Cynder said her voice matching her mood.

"Yes?"

Cynder took a few seconds to prepare the question so that she could bring it well.

"Have you any idea what could be wrong with Georga?" Cynder asked as Volt seemed closer to her than anyone.

"No, I'm sorry Cynder" He said obviously aggravated that it was the case.

"I have never seen Georga like this in my life" He looked towards the door and just caught a glimpse of Georga while she took off.

"She has been sad before but never as empty like she is now" He said as he had a tear now rolling out of his eye.

Cynder had never seen Volt cry before. Cynder had never really been that fund of him because he hit Georga sometimes but this truly showed her he really loved her.

It was very clear it pained him very much to see Georga like this.

"Just what has happened to her" The thought almost appeared simultaneously with both Cynder and Volt and neither one had an answer to what has happened to her or what they or anyone else could do about it.

Cynder left the house feeling more down than she had ever been in her life.

This emotion was very different from what she had experienced before. When she had left the temple to seek her destiny she still could feel strength of life but now it all seemed gone. Georga seemed so powerless and empty, it was beyond description.

* * *

Back in the citadel Ember continued to watch the matches unfold.

Suddenly she spotted a small green dragon fly into the stadium and walk towards the young dragon stands.

She quickly identified the dragon as Georga.

That Georga would come was no surprise to her as Oxidus' match was soon to begin.

"Hi Georga" Ember shouted as she moved closer to Flame and seeing what to do Electa moved as well to create an empty space in between them.

Georga didn't reply to Ember and just settled down next to her and watched the match.

"Do you think he'll win?" Ember asked although it was partly an unnecessary question.

"Yeah" Georga said emotionless she seemed too deeply in thought.

"Georga?" Ember was very surprised. Georga was never like this at all. It looked to Ember like something was seriously wrong with her.

"Ah, she's probably just tired" Ember settled for although she found it very hard to believe by the way Georga was acting.

Ember turned her eyes back to the arena as Oxidus' match was just about to start.

* * *

"And now the Volcano Master Oxidus will face the Empress of Heat Volca!" Volteer shouted.

As Oxidus walked into the arena Ember could see he still looked the same: focused, empty, machinelike and dangerous.

"Just what has happened to him?" Ember also could remember the old Oxidus very well and she most certainly didn't like this ice cold fire dragon.

His emotionless battle style didn't not to belong to a dragon that loved battling as much as he did.

Ember turned to Georga and saw an emptiness in her that was new for Ember.

"What is going on?" Ember thought as Georga was behaving almost like Oxidus now unlike her normal exuberant, happy and sarcastic nature.

Ember just used her tired excuse again to get the stuff out of her head but her instinct strongly told her it was wrong.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Volteer shouted indicating that the match started.

* * *

As soon as the match began Oxidus fired a highly concentrated fireball at his opponent and followed it up right away with a comet dash to keep up with the speed of his own attack.

The high speed fireball hit his opponent almost instantly and temporarily stunned him.

Oxidus stopped his comet dash by digging his claws deep into the ground. Using his powerful leg muscles he instantly came to a hold in less than a metre of ground.

He then chanced his forward momentum into upwards force and jumped to the height of his opponent's neck with ease.

While his opponent was still covered in the fire from Oxidus' attack he put his paws around the dragon's neck and put his tail barb at his opponent's throat. He had made another instant win.

* * *

"The winner is Volcano Master Oxidus!" Volteer shouted.

"He was awesome as always" Ember grinned to Georga in trying to make her speak.

Georga just looked away and didn't seem to be able to speak.

"Aren't you going to him to congratulate him?" Ember asked a bit shocked as Georga hadn't moved from her spot.

"No" Georga answered emotionlessly.

"I'm going home now" She said using an empty voice as she walked out of the stands and towards the outer ring.

The place was very crowded so Georga couldn't take off in the stances.

She waited until she was out of the crowd and then she flew off to her house.

"Looks like Georga has finally given up on him" Flannery said smirking.

"Shut up Flannery!" Ember snapped. Normally she accepted Flannery's mocking remarks but this was something very serious. Ember could see that Georga was struggling with her emotions and that was nothing to joke about.

Ember was now not really in a happy mood herself. With Flame not having a match today and the one of Oxidus already over she decided to leave as well and go back home.

She walked out of the stands and when she had reached the outer ring she spread her wings and took to the skies.

While she flew home there was one thought she just couldn't let go

"What is going on?" she kept thinking.

Georga was never like this so something new and pretty serious must have happened to her.

There also was another thought that stubbornly kept circling in her mind.

"Looks like Georga has finally given up on him" Flannery's words repeated themselves in her head again and again.

"Georga has given up on him" Ember thought, now seriously thinking about it.

"Maybe Flannery might actually be on to something here"

* * *

Also Igüsa was feeling like all hope was lost.

She hadn't left her home all day and right now she was pondering while walking around in circles.

She had brought Furno to Zerzelie to take care of him and Oxidus was having his match now. Therefore she was now alone.

Trying to get the thoughts out of her head she decided to take a flight.

She walked outside and took to the skies.

She took a deep breath what seemed to refresh her mind a little.

"Let's see, what could I do?" She wondered as she flew around aimlessly in the big dragon city.

"Maybe that guy- no that isn't possible"

"Or maybe I could- Out of the question"

"Maybe they could use a- Yeah right, like someone would want something like that" Igüsa was striping off every idea that came up in her head right away.

Feeling a bit in public above the city she landed in a random street and walked the rest of her stroll.

"What talents do I have?" Igüsa now to find the answer that way in the hope that she had something that someone might want.

Her brother's talents were obvious. He was a fire dragon powerhouse and was born to battle. With his skills he could climb up the ranks with ease and maybe even become guardian one day.

Oxidus' talents were in battle. That was what he loved and what he was best at. In his case it was that simple

However for her it wasn't that simple. As hard as she thought about it she couldn't think of any remarkable talent she had at all.

She was no battler like her brother was, she hadn't studied for anything and all her other skills seemed mediocre.

"Well hallo there" a voice said behind what interrupted her thinking.

Igüsa turned her head and spotted a male electric dragon approach her.

He was a rather large dragon with a heavy build. He two plain brown horns and a trident tail appendix. He looked well fed but Igüsa thought he smelled awful.

"Hello" Igüsa said emotionlessly.

"What is a beauty like you doing out here all alone" He asked in a half friendly half worried tone.

"Just taking a stroll" Igüsa shrugged.

The dragon now slowly approached her further.

While he appeared friendly Igüsa felt like she wanted him to keep as much distance as possible.

"So then why don't I escort you home?" He offered still in a half friendly tone but this time it hid something more sinister.

"I can take care of myself" Igüsa replied clearly but not fierce.

Then she bowed to at least be proper "Thanks for the offer but I refuse" She said although it wasn't just meant as a sign of politeness.

"So how is your job searching going?" He asked what totally caught Igüsa by surprise.

"How do you know that?" She asked.

"Hun, you have been mumbling about it the entire time" He said laughing.

"Hun! How dare he?" Igüsa snarled with closed jaws.

"Maybe I can help you" He said in an overly suggestive tone.

"And how would you do that?" Igüsa replied in the exact same tone.

He now approached her even closer and then went by her side.

"If you come to my house maybe we could discuss something" He suggested while he was standing besides Igüsa so that she couldn't see his face.

"Well maybe you could give me a hint what it is before hand" Igüsa suggested not letting him get the best of her.

She kept looking forward and didn't move even a wing while she talked to the dragon standing next to her.

"I can pay you 100 gold pieces for your first time" he said although it wasn't what Igüsa had asked.

"100 gold pieces!" Igüsa thought in shock.

With that money they could buy food and pay their lease for almost a month. It would surely help to have that money. It would also give her time to find a permanent job.

She really needed this money to support her brothers with.

"Wait a second…!" Igüsa now thought.

He had said what he paid but nothing about what it was and she didn't even know who he was.

"So what's your name?" She decided to ask that question first.

"I'm Jolt" He said simply.

"So what is it you want me to do?" She asked next. She didn't look at him but she knew that he was still standing next to her.

"Well from the looks of you I would say you should be able to do it fine" He said. Again he didn't answer the question she asked.

"And what did you have in mind mister Jolt?" Igüsa said superficial.

"Oh, feisty aren't you" He said.

"You bet I am" She replied.

"So what should I do?" Igüsa asked as would know everything about it before she agreed to anything.

The 100 gold pieces made it very worth her time but she was going to be the one who was calling the shots.

She didn't like the way he acted at all so she wanted to be sure that she was in control of the situation.

"Maybe you could put that well build body of yours to good use" He hinted.

Igüsa had a strong hunch where he was going with this but with possibly a new job paid 100 gold pieces she didn't want to discard it until he had literally said it.

"And how were you implying I do that?" The repeated questions and vague answers were starting to get on her nerves but she kept her calm and cold tone. She also didn't turn to him but kept talking with her snout pointed forwards while he was standing next to her.

If he thought he could just pluck her like a berry off a branch then he was sadly mistaken.

"Just as challenging as beautiful eh, I like that of kind of dragonesses" He said.

"Well I feel real honoured" Igüsa shot back sarcastically.

"Well if you're so eager to know-" He said not finishing his sentence.

His voice was very seductive and even harassing now.

Igüsa had a very bad feeling about this and she wanted him to finish his sentence to know what he was up to. However she couldn't let him win by looking so she waited for him to continuo while feeling very uneasy.

Suddenly Igüsa's body was rocked by an extremely powerful feeling as something moved underneath her tail.

Instantly forgetting about the contest of not looking she turned around to find the source of the tickle she was feeling.

Igüsa was shocked by what he found him doing to her.

He had his left paw at her rump and was squeezing it teasingly underneath her tail.

"I meant like this" He said now sounding lustfully.

"I, um" Igüsa was so surprised that she didn't know what to say.

She had bent her head but still was standing with her side to him.

Suddenly he stopped and moved away from her.

He now turned around and was standing behind her, facing in the same direction as she was.

"So what do you say beauty?" He asked. He placed one paw on her hip while he said it.

It looked like he was ready put the other paw there as well and mount her right there in the streets.

"This!" Igüsa hissed.

She lifted her hind leg and gave him a powerful slash at his face.

She could hear him scream and turned around to face him.

She could see the triple gashes of her claws in his snout. She had scratched him on his nose and partially also on his eyes and his mouth. Blood was flowing from the wounds.

"You get your filthy paws off of me!" She shouted down at him. He had his paws to shield his wounds and was looking up at her helpless from a cringing position.

"I will never go and mate with lizards like you! No matter what happens!" She scolded down at the pervert as she gave him another hard blow with her tail what knocked him over.

She could hear a shout of pain coming when she hit him. However she didn't care and just flew off while leaving him alone to lick his wounds.

While she flew home her mind was full of rage.

"That guy! How dare he?" Igüsa cursed.

"Thinking he could just take me! I'm no slut that he can mate with whenever he sees fit! And trying to bribe me with money!"

Suddenly the thought entered about the possible money she could have received if she hadn't rejected him like that and her mood chanced in a second.

She know also felt some regret as she had just rejected a very well paid job.

"It proves that I really do have talent for something" she tried to think good about it but this made her only even more desperate.

"Is it really the solution?" She thought as she was absolutely disgusted by it.

"No!" Igüsa thought with grinding teeth. "No matter will happen I won't abuse my body just for the sake of money!"

She returned home as quickly as possible and landed in the street.

When she entered the house she also stayed there for the remainder of the day. She was feeling almost scared that the incident might repeat itself again if she got out.

This had not been the first time Igüsa had been molested in her life but with the situation like this it made far more impact on her.

It really hammered in that prostitution might be the only possible answer. It was the only thing she really seemed to be good at. She had a weak body but it was very well build and it really excelled in the thing she hated more than anything else in the world.


	21. Igüsa's future

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 21 Igüsa's future**

"So what do you think about it?" Terrador was having a talk with Cyril. They didn't really have time to discuss yesterday's events during the morning and they then had to do their referee shifts. However now Volteer was having his shift so they finally had the chance to clear up a few things.

They had decided to do the talk in Cyril's room. They believed that it was the most secluded and nobody except maybe Spyro or Cynder might step in.

However if they did it would only be for something serious.

"I'm not really sure what happened Terrador, I mean, we didn't actually see it" Cyril responded.

"Well Volt told me that Oxidus and Blizzard had a ferocious fight" Terrador said.

"We all know they had a brutal battle Terrador, that much was obvious" Cyril said a bit annoyed that Terrador needed Volt to tell him such a thing.

"I know that Cyril but what I don't get is how Oxidus, Blizzard, Igüsa and Frost all fit into this picture" Terrador said.

"I mean, to get things so out of control something very heavy, very emotional or very serious must have occurred"

"So what do you think Cyril? What kind of dragon is Blizzard exactly. He is your cousin after all"

Cyril's face instantly got more wrinkles and his teeth were exposed.

He looked definitely not pleased to be talking about Blizzard.

"That elitist bag of ice is a disgrace for the proud and noble Glaciad blood" Cyril snapped with his teeth baring.

"He may be my cousin but it seemed that was just a fluke!" Cyril's voice increased in volume as he seemed to get really angry.

"The way he views all other dragons is unworthy of our family! That rotten-"

"But anyway Cyril" Terrador stopped him before he was totally into his royal family things again.

"What do you know further, that son of his didn't seem that bad to me or was he just concerned about his farther" Terrador tried to get more information as apparently Cyril knew Blizzard well and might now more about Frost as well.

"Frost is a miracle if you ask me" Cyril's voice had decreased again and he was now sounding much more pleased and kind.

"He is truly worthy of his blood. I have never seen a dragon with such kindness, generosity and nobility before. It is not that he doesn't acknowledge his royal blood, he is proud of being one of the Glaciad ice dragons but he always gives to lower dragons" Cyril clearly was very fund of the young ice dragon.

Terrador let that sink in and he tried to think about the next step.

"So if Frost is so kind then does that mean his relationship with his father isn't well?" Terrador asked next as it seemed very likely to him.

"Oh yes Terrador, those two almost never agree. Frost has great respect for his elders so he keeps submissive to his father but he truly tries everything in his power to keep Blizzard from pollution the noble line" Cyril was still sounding a bit dreamy about Frost.

"More likely he is just kind and doesn't care about his lineage" Terrador thought as he wrote the real story in his head.

'Frost was a kind and generous young dragon who doesn't care much about royalty. He treats all dragons the same but his father does not and treats all other dragons condescendingly. Therefore they often clash with each other. Blizzard is still his father nonetheless and he can't go against him. He just tries to do the best he can.'

This version seemed like the real story as Cyril seemed very fund of Frost so he might praise him very much in his story.

"Do you also have any info on Igüsa? I knew she was his maid but Georga never really talked that much about how she did during her job" Terrador was good friends with Volt so he hoped that together with Cyril's connection to Blizzard they could rewind the entire event without needing to do any painful confrontations.

"Well Blizzard didn't really view her as important so I don't really know that much" Cyril started his talk already a bit uncertain.

"What I understand from him is that Igüsa was quite feisty for a maid. The only things I heard about her from him were complains about how burdensome, rebellious and disrespectful she was" Cyril said.

He now raised his voice again and gave it a aggressive tone "But in the case of Blizzard that doesn't say much as he will think that way of any dragon who doesn't either follow him blindly or worships him" Cyril clearly was not pleased by his cousin.

"I have never heard him say 'Igüsa'. He always said maid and talked about her as little as possible. Frost does call her by her name however and he seems rather fund of her. I have heard him once talking about helping Igüsa and by the way he was saying it I can conclude that it wasn't the first time" Cyril finished as that was all he knew.

Blizzard rarely spoke of her and therefore Frost couldn't speak much about her either.

"Hmmm" Terrador thought about what Cyril had just said.

"Um, excuse us" Terrador's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he spotted Spyro and Frost standing in the doorway.

"Ah Frost good timing" Cyril said gleefully "We were just talking about you"

"Well actually-" Frost started but couldn't finish.

"There was something important we wanted to tell you" Spyro continued for him but he also had problems to finish it.

"Can't it wait" Cyril said as they were kind of in the middle of something.

"It is about yesterday's events" Frost admitted.

"It is?" Now Cyril and Terrador were all ears to hear more about it.

* * *

Georga was in her house moping around in her room.

"Oxidus where are you? Did I really fail you? What could I have done?" The thoughts repeated themselves over and over again in her head.

She was totally in her own thoughts

Suddenly a voice broke her trance "Georga"

She turned to see Volt appearing from behind the curtain.

She didn't answer him as she just wished he would just go away.

However Volt didn't go away.

"What has happened yesterday? You still haven't told me anything" Volt said.

Georga just looked away and didn't answer.

"Come on Georga, what happened to Oxidus?" Volt insisted.

"Please leave" Georga said sadly.

"Georga!" Volt raised his voice.

However that didn't make impact on her closed mind at all.

"Please Volt, please leave" Georga said almost in a begging voice.

This seemed to make a deep impression on Volt and he walked out of the room although it was obvious he was very reluctant to leave Georga.

Georga kept walking aimlessly around in her room. Oxidus was the one thing that was on her mind. She felt like she would never smile ever again because she was feeling so empty inside.

"Oxidus how did I loose you?" Georga now again started to cry.

* * *

Meanwhile back in the citadel Spyro and Frost had just told Cyril and Terrador about what had happened yesterday.

"So if I understand you correctly. Blizzard had a misunderstanding with Igüsa then Blizzard attacked her. When she was defeated Oxidus rescued her but went out of control and he tore Blizzard to pieces. When he was about to kill Blizzard Igüsa saved him. Then we took them to the healer where Igüsa kept insisting that Frost stayed with Blizzard until he woke up. When Blizzard woke up he fired Igüsa" Terrador summarized it to confirm it.

"Dude, that's was what he just said" Sparx said annoyed.

"How dare he do that while-!" Cyril shouted but Terrador interrupted him by putting his wing in front of Cyril's face.

"So what was the misunderstanding about anyway?" He asked as it may be important if Blizzard was going to call the law.

"Well it was about-" Frost stopped as he felt a bit too embarrassed to continuo.

He started to blush and with his scales being an aqua blue colour that was very visible for everyone to see.

"About what!" Sparx encouraged.

"Why don't you fill us in here, rich boy" He suggested as Frost reaction made it appear like it was something interesting.

"It was about, um, the kind of thing that was, um, yeah about something that was just a game" Frost stammered as he had difficulty telling it.

"What kind of game?" Terrador asked as it was obvious Frost was hiding something.

"Um well you hit the other, well you-" Frost was starting to flap his wings uncontrolled as he didn't want to continuo it.

"Hit? A sparring match?" Spyro suggested as he also starting to become curious at what Frost was hiding.

"No, no, nothing like that" Frost corrected.

"But what then?" Cyril was starting to lose his patients.

"Well it all began with a spa-" Frost just couldn't get it out of his mouth.

"A Spaaaa" Sparx prolonged the tone and make him finish the word.

"-anking!" Frost shouted with his eyes closed.

"Spa, anking. Spanking?" Spyro, Sparx, Terrador and Cyril all were very puzzled.

"It started with a spanking?" Terrador was the first one to say something.

Frost sighed deep to prepare himself. Now that he had said it he had to tell the rest as well.

"My dad forced me to act the same way towards Igüsa as he did" Frost explained.

"I had to obey him and therefore I acted mean towards her" Frost obviously wasn't proud of it. However he knew that Spyro had already heard that part so he just moved on.

"I wrote her a sorry letter and gave a box of Taviboah's as an apology"

"So that was what you were talking about back then" Spyro said.

"But what has all that to do with a spanking?" Cyril asked as he wanted for Frost to continuo.

"Well I put a joke in the sorry letter" Frost swallowed hard as he had to force the words out of his mouth "That I deserved a spanking when I returned home" he bent his head down.

"Hahahaha, And she took it literally and gave your tail-base a firm trashing, didn't she" Sparx said laughing at him.

"Well yes" Frost admitted.

"Well then she allowed me to give her a spanking!" Frost then said a bit fierce to defend his honour. It had gone both ways.

Spyro grinned but managed not to laugh at Frost but the idea seemed a bit silly.

"Oh now I see" Terrador said as it finally made sense. He didn't seem to have any problems not to laugh.

"And then Blizzard misunderstood it as that Igüsa was beating you and that's when everything else started" He filled in.

"Yeah that's right" Frost knotted.

Frost was feeling relieved. He felt like Terrador had saved him as he had broken the very embarrassing moment.

"So did she hit you hard?" Cyril asked as if that was really important.

"Well no, it was just a prank" Frost answered a bit puzzled.

"But because of that he attacked her and even after she saves him he still fires her?" Cyril yelled in disbelief.

"Cyril, calm down" Terrador said trying to calm him before it was too late.

"Why Terrador?" Cyril snapped "That rotten, bigheaded, bastard!" He cursed.

"Ever since he hatched he had done nothing but disgrace us!"

"He never showed gratitude or respect but to do something like this!"

Cyril was getting angrier and angrier by the second.

"That Igüsa saved his life and cared for him despite everything he did to her and he doesn't show her anything for it?" Cyril was shouting so hard that it seemed even Terrador cringed in from it.

"Boy, he sure doesn't like your dad" Spyro said to Frost.

"Yeah, they never see eye to eye" Frost whispered back. Although it was more shouting than whispering as he had to make himself audible over Cyril.

"That Blizzard is a disgrace to the royal Glaciad blood!" Cyril was still shouting to himself as nobody was really listening.

"Cyril that is not important right now" Terrador said sternly.

He tried to get Cyril to stop going completely into his royal things but it already was too late for that.

"Of course it is!" Cyril didn't show any signs of listening.

"Man Cyril is going to explode if this keeps up" Sparx said although no one could even hear him over Cyril.

"How dare he! Now the line will have the name of ingratitude!"

"Thanks to that jerk I need to repair the damage again!" He shouted.

Suddenly Spyro spotted a big chance now.

"Hey Cyril! There is something you can do to purify your family's name!" he shouted in the hope that the message would reach the enraged Cyril.

"What?" Cyril suddenly seemed to listen.

"We actually came here because we had a big request to ask you" Spyro explained.

"And what might that be young dragons?" Cyril said although he was less loud than he was before he was still shouting.

They told Cyril of their plan but kept him from doing it.

They couldn't let him go in the state he was in so they had to wait while he blew off his steam.

To their astonishment and even more to their annoyance that took over an hour.

* * *

While Spyro and Frost were waiting for Cyril to insult and curse Blizzard till he was satisfied Georga was still alone in her room.

She had kept moping about Oxidus all day and it still didn't get her anywhere.

"Oxidus why? What could I have done?"

"What could I have done to support you more?" The questions never stopped coming.

"Now that you're gone I don't know it anymore, who are you and why did this happen?"

"Georga dinner!" She heard Volt shout.

Georga got up and walked aimlessly out of her room.

As she walked into the living room she didn't turn to her guardian but just settled down next to the dish and started eating.

She ate slowly and chewed carefully. She didn't seem to eat because hungry but just ate because she had to.

She never even seemed to notice Volt, let alone say something.

Normally she was very talkative and they sometimes had problem eating all their food but this time she never spoke.

She didn't even say hi or anything. Nothing at all, even when she was asked a question she didn't speak.

"Georga" She heard Volt whisper to himself just like this morning.

Volt didn't know what to say to her and the dinner passed without any words being spoken.

Once they had eaten their meal Georga got back to her room and stayed there for the rest of the evening. She was pondering hard about what she could have done what could still have saved Oxidus.

She never spoke or did anything at all. She didn't even come close to any toy in her room and seemed completely out of life energy.

It was true torture for Volt to see his foster daughter like this and he felt like he would do anything to help her but there was just nothing he could do.

It felt like all he could do was watch in tears as Georga was going down the same path as Oxidus did.

* * *

Meanwhile Igüsa was thinking very similar thoughts.

She too would be willing to do anything to support her brothers but there just wasn't anything she could do.

"There may be no other options but to enter in the prostitution is something I just won't do!" Igüsa was determined in that fact.

She had been thinking and refusing to go into prostitution the entire day and she was exhausted.

"Just what can I do?" She thought but she had asked herself that question thousands of times today already.

Igüsa just didn't know it anymore. They had already run out of food and they had to pay lease every month. With only two days till the end of the month and not enough spare money to pay it they would be excluded now for curtain.

The reality wasn't as bad as this at all. They still had plenty food left in some unused drawers. Go out hunting was also still an option and if they put their heads together they still had the money to pay for this month and maybe even the next one also but Igüsa's head was so full of doom futures she had become extremely pessimistic.

She didn't even think about other possibilities and to her they were completely out of options.

She also felt completely out of energy as she lay half asleep on her bed while moping about what she could do.

Suddenly she heard someone knock on the door.

Igüsa groaned as she got up from her bed and walked towards the door.

She wasn't really in a mood for visitors but she didn't want to be rude and let them stand there all day.

She opened it and was a bit surprised by who she saw.

"Oh, hallo Frost, Spyro" She said as happy as she could.

"Hey, we have some pretty sweet news for you Iga" Sparx said happy.

"Well come in then" Igüsa said. Her mood was still way down but if they had something to say then she might as well hear it.

After all it was not like she had anything better to do.

"Well there is someone who has great news" Spyro corrected his brother. He was smiling very warmly as he clearly was very pleased.

"Well what is it?" Igüsa urged, she was now starting to really get interested.

"Hey! You can come out now!" Spyro shouted to someone.

"Yes, yes, I come out of this stinking and dirty allay" a voice sounded and Igüsa was very surprised when she saw the ice guardian Cyril appears from one of the many dark alleys around the decayed neighbourhood.

"Was this all really necessary?" It was obvious that he wasn't in such a good mood as Spyro and Frost were.

"That's Cyril!" Igüsa knew that Cyril was a cousin of Blizzard there was a strong possibility that Cyril might expect the same behaviour from her as well.

"It's such an honour ice guardian Cyril" Igüsa bowed as deep as she could. This was considered proper when meeting someone with a higher standing than you.

"I see Blizzard did his worst" Cyril said laughing.

"Huh?" Igüsa didn't know what to think of that remark.

"Don't worry you can drop the whole honour thing" Spyro said as unwanted praising was something he knew very well.

"No way man, let's see the full extent of her vocabulary" Sparx said.

"But as we said we have a surprise for you so let's go inside" Spyro urged as he wanted to stop Sparx before he got any weird ideas into his head.

Igüsa didn't know what else to do but to let them enter and see what they were up to.

This was all extremely confusing for her but she didn't have the energy to really worry about it.

* * *

"This place is a dump" Cyril said as he entered the tiny house.

"It's not much but it is home" Igüsa said.

It wasn't really a polite thing to say from Cyril but Igüsa didn't blame him.

Their house was a wreck and she didn't bother trying to deny that.

Cyril used his tail to shove some stuff out of the way and settled down on the ground as dragons normally did during a talk.

Igüsa followed suit as did Frost and Spyro.

Just before they could start they spotted a tiny fire dragon walk towards them.

"Iga, who that?" the little Furno asked as he spotted unfamiliar dragons.

"That's the ice guardian Cyril" Igüsa sighed, she was feeling very tired and hoped this to be short.

Now Oxidus walked into the house as well. It seemed he too was curious about why Cyril was here.

He looked up at Cyril, he didn't look awed but just curious.

"So Oxidus we have already met before but my name is Cyril" Cyril said politely.

"He has manners unlike his counterpart" Frost whispered to Spyro.

"But just like his younger counterpart" Spyro whispered back at which Frost smiled.

"And also just a temper like his counterpart's girlfriend" Sparx added to which Spyro gave him a dangerous snarl.

"I'm Oxidus" Oxidus said with his usual emotionless voice.

"A pleasure" Cyril said although he sounded a bit confused by the depressive voice of the fire dragon.

Having met Cyril now, Oxidus walked back out of the room to most likely get back to his pondering.

Cyril looked a bit confused at Spyro who shrugged to indicate that he shouldn't bother with it.

Cyril understood the message and turned to the dragoness.

"Well I think now that the pleasantries are over you all want to know why I'm here" Cyril said as he started the talk.

"You see the thing is-" Cyril stopped and waited a full 5 seconds before finishing his sentence. He really seemed to enjoy everyone anxious faces.

"I really need a housemaid for in the citadel and I was tipped that a good one is in this house" He said finally after he felt like he couldn't prolong it any more.

"What?" Igüsa exclaimed in disbelief. She was so into her despair and misery that it took time to sink in.

"But maybe I should go look for one somewhere else" Cyril now got up again and it looked like he was ready to leave.

"No, no, wait!" Igüsa said a bit in panic.

"So who is it?" Cyril asked half lifted from the ground.

"Well I was once a maid for Blizzard" Igüsa said, she was so stunned that she followed into Cyril's obvious teasing act.

Frost didn't say it to her but he found the whole scene quite amusing.

"That's perfect, if you can handle someone like that Blizzard then you can handle anything" Cyril said smirking.

"I think I will take you" He said as to spell it out for everyone. It seemed Igüsa needed it clearly handed to her.

"Are you really giving me a new job?" Igüsa stammered still amazed and in disbelief.

"Let's say… for 15 gold pieces an hour" Cyril suggested "Is that okay?"

"15 gold pieces an hour?" Igüsa shouted in disbelief what caused Cyril to move a bit back from her.

"That's more than ten times what I got from Blizzard!"

Cyril now looked a bit shocked himself "What did he pay you then?"

"12 silver pieces" Igüsa said almost like a admission. 10 silver pieces equal 1 gold piece.

"Per hour?" Cyril shouted in disbelief. "That's a joke for him! He could rather just give you your daily food, I believe that would still have been more!"

"I will make sure that he won't have fired you without regretting it. I promise you that!" Cyril sounded very determined to punish Blizzard that he fired her. Unknown to Igüsa however Cyril would jump at any given chance to show Blizzard who's boss.

"That I gotta see" Frost was normally quite formal but this scene was too much for him to keep his cool. He was also looking happy and vengeful. The prospect of his dad getting scolded by the only one that could do that seemed like a show he wouldn't want to miss.

Spyro was smiling at his friend. Frost and Cyril did indeed seem to have a few things in common. Although they were both aristocrats they were respectful and generous towards all other dragons. Aristocrats or not.

"You will do chores in the citadel from 8 o'clock in the morning to 6 o'clock in the afternoon" Cyril sounded strict now but that was only because he wanted to get a bit more formality in the conversation.

"Of course" Igüsa was agreeing with it right away. It was two hours less than with Blizzard and the job still easily brought in far more money than previously.

"I have seen that you've been disqualified from the tournament" Cyril said next "I'm sorry for that but it means we won't have any problems for free days on unfavourable times"

"Wait a second? I have free days?" Igüsa was being perplexed again and again.

"I was thinking about one every week. You're free to save and spend them to your heart's content as long as you inform me at least two days in advance" Cyril said.

"Of course I will understand that emergencies can happen sometimes but keep those at a minimum because I have a tight schedule" he added.

"This is awesome" Igüsa thought out loud. She now seemed full of spirit and was pumped with youthful energy.

Cyril was a bit off-set by the highly excited dragoness who was acting like he was giving her hatchday presents.

He was hiring her as a maid not indulging her.

"I still expect good and hard work from you" Cyril said trying to make the point again that she still had to work.

It was no charity but a job after all. This Igüsa was surely acting strangely happy.

"Of course" Igüsa bowed hastily trying to keep a bit of politeness to her new boss but also feeling so much gratitude to him that she almost wanted to kiss him.

Igüsa was breathing fast and almost vibrating with excitement. She had a broad smile on her face and seemed so full of energy it radiated from her.

"Iga, what wrong?" Furno asked from besides her.

"Nothing's wrong at all Furno" Igüsa said full of energy and joy unlike the last time she spoke to him.

"Cyril here is my new boss"

"Hi Kyril I'm Furno" Furno said in his high pitched voice.

"It's Cyril little one" Cyril tried not to get angry and scare the little dragon but it was obvious he hated it when people got his name wrong.

"But anyway" Cyril now turned to Igüsa again and got back to job description "You start tomorrow and I want the citadel clean by six o'clock. Igus cup or no Igus cup" He said very stern.

Igüsa's excitement was shattered for a moment. The citadel was huge! With the hundreds of dragons around now it would an impossible task to do.

She was now starting to have second thoughts about this job.

"Don't worry Igüsa, he's just teasing you" Spyro now stepped in as he saw her obviously scared face.

"There are dozens of cleaners in the citadel at this moment to help you. They had kept the citadel clean without you remember" Spyro assured her

"Of course" It actually was pretty obvious. Someone had to clean the citadel in the days the Igus cup was already underway.

"I still have some documents to fill in so I really need to get going now" Cyril said as he now really stood up.

Igüsa felt like she just couldn't hold back the urge anymore and acting mostly on impulse now that he was about to leave.

She ran up Cyril and gave him a loud smacking kiss on his snout. She was just too grateful to him to let him leave the house unrewarded.

The move surprised everyone in the room but none as much as Cyril.

"What! Oh, well, um, that's new" he stammered when Igüsa had retreated.

"Yes, Igüsa is one of a kind" Frost said as he had first hand experience about how informal Igüsa could be. Especially if she was in a good mood.

Igüsa giggled girlishly as she seemed light and happy now. Thanks to Cyril all the pressure and all her worries were lifted off of her.

"I want to see you at eight o'clock tomorrow!" Cyril almost shouted now walked out of the house but then stopped as he apparently still had something to say "And I also don't want any more kisses from you ever again!" He added trying to sound angry but everyone could see that he was blushing.

"Thank you so much Cyril" Igüsa said gratefully and overjoyed.

"Don't thank me. It was Spyro who tipped me" Cyril said before quickly disappearing.

* * *

"Wait? You were the one who convinced Cyril?" Igüsa said to Spyro.

"Sure did Igüsa" Spyro chirped proudly.

"Frost told Cyril about what happened with when his father fired you" Spyro said but now he had problems continuing as he had to hold back his laughing "I don't believe I've seen him that mad before in my life"

"I didn't even know a guardian could" Frost added also laughing.

"Was he mad at Blizzard?" Igüsa asked sounding excited and very curious.

"He sure was. You should have seen him ramping and raving about how Blizzard was a disgrace to the royal, um-" Spyro couldn't think up the name of the royal blood and he looked at his friend a bit desperately.

"Glaciad blood" Frost reminded.

"Right, about how Blizzard was a disgrace to the Glaciad blood and how he should be expelled from all his riches"

"He should have his riches taken and live in our house for a few years. That would have some impact in him" Igüsa said agreeing.

"Yeah and you then are his boss and get to bark him around" Sparx added.

"Now that's a wonderful idea" Igüsa said seemingly already picturing it in her head.

"Igüsa" Frost said with a pretty serious tone.

"Yes Frost?" Igüsa said sensing it was something a bit more heavy.

"Even though you're not our maid anymore, are we still friends?" Frost asked.

"Of course we are Frost" Igüsa assured him, it almost looked now like she was the same age he was despite the size difference.

"I can't come as a servant anymore but I can still come as a guest"

"Yes, let's say you come and visit me on your first day off" Frost said happy that he wasn't going to loose Igüsa.

"Sure" Igüsa chirped like a young high spirited girl.

This Igüsa was new for Spyro. He had seen Igüsa when she was friendly, when she was angry, when she was sad but now he also saw her when she was happy.

"She only 23" He thought to himself. Igüsa had always acted very mature but seeing her like this reminded Spyro that although she was a full grown dragon she wasn't all that old at all.

Igüsa was still a quite young dragoness as well and also still had some childlike tendencies in her.

Suddenly Spyro saw that it was already dark outside.

"I'm sorry but I really need to get back now" Spyro said as it was starting to get late.

"Yeah, if I arrive home any later my dad won't be pleased" Frost said a bit fearful.

"Thank you so much you two. You have no idea how much this means to me" Igüsa so grateful.

"Anytime Igüsa" The three boys replied in unison as they walked out of the house.

* * *

After Spyro and Frost had left Igüsa was giving her view of the future a major rethink.

Previously it had all been about things like poverty and possibly even forced mating. Now it was filled only with happiness and possibilities

After calculating it Igüsa also was very satisfied by the new amount money they would receive. With 150 gold pieces a day combined with the 10 gold pieces of Oxidus that made 160. Oxidus now didn't even need to work anymore to earn their living.

However Igüsa knew that teaching was more then just a job for Oxidus.

Being a teacher was his pride and something he really enjoyed doing.

She didn't even bother asking him the question if he would stop.

Now Igüsa truly thought about the possibilities

With their new income they could renovate the house. The house next to them wasn't owned so maybe they could merge them into one. Or maybe they could even buy that house near the citadel she wanted.

Now all kinds of fantasies came up in Igüsa's mind. About moving into great houses and being able to do everything they had always wanted to do.

"Don't go overboard" She said to herself.

"Let's just keep things as they are and we will see what we'll do" Igüsa tried to keep serious but her happiness was making her act very immature.

And that was something she couldn't have when Furno was around.

"Come on Furno, it's already far past your bed time" She said with a stern voice that was so fake that even the tiny Furno wasn't impressed by it.

"Come on Furno, bed" Igüsa said it a bit more convincing now.

Furno still didn't really seem impressed but he obeyed this time and walked to his bed. However it seemed more like he did it because he was feeling tired than because she ordered him to.

He laid in his small bed and curled himself up to sleep.

"Good night, big sis" He said before closing his eyes. Igüsa was not a mother for him at this moment but an older sibling just like Oxidus was.

"Big sis?" Igüsa was very surprised at this.

Furno had almost never called her that. He had called Oxidus big bro plenty of times but he always called her Iga.

Oxidus now joined his younger brother and rested down. That he still didn't speak to anyone but didn't bother Igüsa now, nothing could still ruin this day.

Seeing her two brothers resting Igüsa realised she was quite tired herself and she laid down in her nest shaped bed as she had already done many times today.

As she laid down she could see her two brother sleeping in the two beds next to her. They were laying side by side but Igüsa still felt like they were sleeping alone.

Igüsa felt like that wasn't how it was supposed to be and she decided to do something about it.

She stretched her tail out and coiled it all the way around her brother. She wanted her family to sleep together with her and make sure that they weren't alone.

She pulled them closer to her and slightly pressed them against her side. She also curled her body around them and made the space a little smaller so that they were as close as possible.

Igüsa was right now laying curled up with her tail close to her snout. In the circle of her body lay the young Oxidus and Furno. Furno was already fast asleep but Oxidus was not.

However for some reason he hadn't resisted Igüsa's pull at all.

Igüsa could feel Oxidus stiffen for a moment but then relaxing again.

He crawled even deeper into her soft belly scales like a hatchling and Igüsa could hear him purring.

Even though Igüsa couldn't see it but she knew he had a warm smile and was thinking about their mother while he was laying curled up into her soft and warm belly.

"Maybe there is hope for him as well" Igüsa thought hopeful. She was desperate at the start of this day and totally full of life at the end of it. Maybe things weren't as bad as they looked for Oxidus either and his real self was still inside of him after all.

Right now she could feel the warm energy from him as he lay half buried in her. The unique kind of energy that only family can share.

Suddenly she heard Oxidus whisper something.

"Mommy" he whispered as he buried himself even deeper in her.

She didn't know if Oxidus was already asleep or not but she guessed that he was.

Igüsa's heart was still filled with happy youthful energy but her body was used up so Igüsa laid down and she quickly fell asleep.

With her two beloved brothers by her side and a bright future ahead Igüsa slept better than she ever had before in her life.


	22. Georga's hope

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 22 Georga's hope**

Her eye lids opened up as a young fire dragoness woke up after an excellent night of sleep.

She yawned and raised her head to look outside and check the weather.

It was clouded and there was a heavy wind. But for Igüsa that didn't matter as she could feel the sun shine inside of her.

She was full of energy and looking very forward to going to her new job in the citadel today.

She looked to her brothers and spotted them both sleeping peacefully cuddled up to her.

She was curled around and they were lying like hatchlings in the circle of her body.

Last night she had drawn all of them together and fallen asleep with them.

She had half expected Oxidus to escape as she was asleep. Normally he was very reserved and always kept away from things like hugs.

But to her surprise he was still in the same position as yesterday; sleeping peacefully together with his family.

She now carefully removed her body and gently moved away from them. She didn't want to wake them up and especially not Oxidus.

When she felt that she had put enough distance between herself and them she raised herself to her feet as there was work to do.

She started to work on breakfast but she kept doing it as quietly as possible.

She hoped they still had some food left and checked the main drawer.

It was empty but she just checked another one.

This drawer was filled to capacity with meat and fruit.

"Boy I was really worried about nothing. We have plenty for weeks" She though.

Yesterday she was convinced they were going to starve tomorrow already.

Even if they didn't have any food it seemed a little exaggerated. They could survive weeks without food and go out hunting for food was always still an option. She almost felt embarrassed that she was such a worrywart.

After her discovery that they still had food she got to work.

She decided to put a lot of effort in the breakfast of today because she thought they had something to celebrate.

She picked only the best pieces of the meat out of the drawer she could find. Not that they had much of high quality but she picked the best of what they did have.

She gently cut it apart with her claws into fine strips of meat. She only used the best parts of the animals.

She now picked some fruits and squeezed them out over the meat what caused the liquid to drip out of it.

She took a small bite from one of the strips but she didn't judge it good enough yet.

Then she remembered that they still had some spices left.

She had to search for it but eventually she found some pigous berries.

She picked the hard red fruits and she broke them over the meat.

It unleashed a tiny cloud of pollen that dwindled down on the meat.

This time it tasted better but still not yet good enough.

She now put her creativity skills to the test. They didn't have any high class culinary goods so with basic fruits and some very simple spices she did the best she could.

When she was finally feeling satisfied she cooked it.

She gently breathed fire at the meat. With this little energy she had to keep it up for a very long time until it was finally hot enough.

After she was done she divided it into three scales; two large ones for herself and Oxidus and asmaller one for Furno. Then she put them down on the ground.

She now looked at the bed and to her surprise both her brothers were still asleep.

Oxidus was normally already up at like 6 o'clock or sometimes even earlier. It was now 7:15 and he was still asleep.

She decided it was time to wake up because although her job was later it was still in the early morning.

She walked over to her brother's bed and feeling a bit mischievous she tenderly nuzzled Oxidus.

Oxidus slowly and unconsciously he grinned as he opened is eyes. But at the second he noticed that Igüsa was nuzzling him he jumped back.

He slammed with his back against the wall what caused Igüsa to giggle a bit.

"Good morning Oxidus" Igüsa said with a happy girly voice.

"Don't do that!" Oxidus shouted to her as he got up. For this moment he was looking like the stubborn boy again that Igüsa remembered.

"Oxidus" Igüsa was so happy that Oxidus was expressing his emotion again.

"Morning big sis, big bro" Furno said as he got up.

"Morning little bro" Igüsa said using a female version of his childlike high pitched voice.

"I hope you boys are hungry" Igüsa said happy.

"Sure am" Furno chirped as he ran towards the smallest bowl and started eating right away.

"Furno" Igüsa said a bit forbidding.

Furno took a step back from the bowl but didn't speak. He knew what he was doing wrong.

"Come on Oxidus, let's eat" Igüsa said urging.

Oxidus' depression seemed to return now because he didn't reply and walked silently to his bowl.

"Piece by piece" Igüsa thought. "Piece by piece, slowly but surely Oxidus will return"

She walked over to her own bowl and told her brothers they could start.

* * *

The three siblings enjoyed their meal very much because Igüsa had put so much effort into it.

The meat was only the tastiest of the animal, it was spiced, juicy and it was gently cooked and baked instead of burned.

Furno was eating very quickly and before long his bowl was already empty.

He gave a loud burp and fell down on his back to allow his fully tummy a bit more space.

"So, enjoyed it?" Igüsa asked her little brother.

Igüsa was eating slower so her bowl was still half full.

"Good cooking Iga" Furno complimented.

"Thank you" Igüsa replied cheerfully.

Oxidus didn't speak but Igüsa could see he was enjoying his meal.

"So Oxidus having a match today?" Igüsa asked although she knew he had one.

"Yeah" Oxidus said like he didn't care.

"Well good luck, I'll come and watch it for sure. Igüsa said sounding happy.

Oxidus didn't give a reply and just returned to his meal.

Igüsa also returned to her meal while still smiling.

* * *

When they were all finished Igüsa put the bowl back and decided it was time to head for her new job.

"Furno!" She said. She didn't need to tell him what to do as Furno knew the whole thing by heart.

The little fire dragon walked up to her and stretched out while at the same time lowering himself.

Igüsa said goodbye to Oxidus and then she grabbed him in her mouth.

Igüsa first flew towards Zerzelie where she dropped off Furno before turning back to head to her new working place.

It was the same route she had flown before and nothing seemed to have changed at first impression.

However Igüsa knew it was different when she reached the point where she normally turned towards Blizzard.

Now she kept flying straight towards the citadel that towered over the rest of the city.

When she had reached it the fire dragoness walked into the enormous building and saw it was already packed with activity.

"Well, I'm here but what am I supposed to do?" Igüsa thought.

She knew she had to do chores but she had no idea of where to start.

"Ah there you are" right on que Igüsa saw Cyril appearing from the crowd.

"Why don't we go somewhere else because this seems a little bit to noisy here" He suggested.

Igüsa nudged and followed Cyril.

He let her to his room where he turned to see her.

Igüsa waited patiently for what kind of thing he had in mind for her.

"I want you to clean the kitchen together with the other cleaners. That will be all for today" Cyril said.

"That's all?" Igüsa said puzzled. Only just the kitchen seemed a bit little for a work day of 10 hours.

"It will keep you busy, trust me" Cyril sneered.

"Okay" Igüsa nudged and walked out.

"Wait a moment!" Cyril said before she could leave.

Igüsa turned her head back "Yes?"

"I think Spyro would be very pleased to see you here so why don't you go up to his room before you begin" He suggested.

"Okay, I will" Igüsa said as she walked out of the room.

* * *

After Igüsa had forced herself a way through the crowd she reached the stairs going up to the room.

Just as she put her first paw on the steps she stopped because she heard something.

"Hey, hallo there Igüsa" A voice sounded from behind her in the crowd.

It was clearly a female and the voice sounded familiar but she couldn't place it.

Igüsa turned and right away recognised the unique colour of Ember as she walked out of the crowd.

"Hallo Ember" Igüsa replied.

"Here to watch the tournament?" Ember asked.

"No, I work here" Igüsa replied feeling a bit proud of it.

"Work? I thought you worked for Blizzard?" Ember tilted her head a bit in confusion.

"Why don't you come with me and Spyro and I will explain" Igüsa said as she started to walk up the stairs.

Ember didn't know why or how Igüsa had switched or what Spyro had to do with it but she just walked alongside her as Igüsa would explain it in the room.

* * *

The two dragonesses reached the top of the stairs and Ember opened the door.

"What! Um, hi" Cynder stammered with a brush clamped in her tail.

Cynder was aqua blue from end to end but Spyro was she was still busy on Spyro. Only his behind and tail were red, the rest of his body was still purple.

"Bad timing?" Ember asked rhetorically.

"Well, yes" Cynder said.

"We'll wait outside" Igüsa said as she walked back out of the room to let the two dragons finish painting.

"No wait, it's fine" Spyro said as he walked up to them.

With his mostly purple body and red behind Igüsa thought him look very silly.

"No, no, you finish painting and we will wait outside" Igüsa insisted as she walked out with Ember still by her side.

Spyro didn't protest further and when she looked back Igüsa saw him getting back into his stance to allow Cynder to finish.

* * *

While Ember and Igüsa were waiting for Cynder to finish a green female earth dragon was eating the last pieces of her breakfast at home.

Georga was never giving a reply to any of Volt's questions and even if she did it was only to cut the subject.

"So Georga, Oxidus is having a match again" Volt kept trying to get Georga at least a little bit excited but nothing ever seemed to work.

Just like last time Georga didn't reply to him.

She had barely spoke to Volt at all ever since the incident of Blizzard.

Volt had heard from Terrador yesterday evening exactly what had happened but he couldn't figure out why it was making Georga act like this.

"Oh Georga" He thought as she looked so much now like Oxidus.

"I need to do something" Volt kept thinking that but couldn't get any idea of what he could do to help her.

"Maybe I need her again" He thought as it looked very hopeless.

"But… even she couldn't do something" he though even more desperate.

Cynder had come to visit them yesterday but even she couldn't figure out what Georga had in running around in her mind.

"Last time Cynder had managed to pull Georga out of her sadness while I couldn't. But this time around even she seems powerless. If Cynder can't do it then who in this world can?"

* * *

Cynder also remembered her meeting with Georga yesterday and how much she was shocked by what Georga had become.

She was almost finished painting Spyro so she pushed it away as she needed to focus. Her dexterity was poor so painting Spyro was very difficult for her.

She now gently painted his head and made sure to watch out for his eyes.

"Would you turn around now?" Cynder asked so that she could inspect him in search of missed purple spots.

Spyro slowly spun around and Cynder brushed away the few last purple spots until Spyro was almost totally red. Only his eyes, nose and mouth still had some purple but that was only visible if you really looked for it.

"We're finished!" She shouted to the two dragonesses waiting.

Igüsa and Ember walked into the room again and especially Ember looked puzzled.

Cynder lie down while Spyro kept standing up. The paint needed a few minutes to dry so Spyro had to keep standing until then.

"So Igüsa, what are you doing here?" Cynder asked as she was very anxious to know.

"Didn't Spyro tell you?" Igüsa asked back sounding a bit surprised.

"Well no he didn't" Cynder replied as she looked at Spyro who looked back innocently.

Spyro had left early yesterday and she had noticed that he was very busy with all kinds of things.

During the evening she asked him what he had done but he said that he was too tired and just went to sleep.

"Well then I will tell you now" Igüsa said apparently very happy.

"Cyril has employed me" Igüsa said simply.

"Employed?" Cynder repeated a bit confused.

"Yes, now I am his maid" Igüsa said satisfied.

"What happened then, weren't you the maid of Frost's father?" Ember now asked.

"After he healed from his battle with Oxidus he fired her" Spyro said to her.

"Well congratulations" Cynder said. She felt it sounding a bit stupid but she didn't know what else to say.

"I have come up here to thank you Spyro" Igüsa said.

"Don't think anything of it" Spyro said humble while he shrugged.

"Huh?" Cynder still didn't understand how Spyro was involved with Igüsa's job now at the citadel.

"It was Spyro who convinced Cyril to hire me" Igüsa explained.

"Really?" Cynder asked looking to Spyro.

"Yeah, boy you should have seen him when I told him what happened" Spyro grinned.

"Well then what did happen?" Cynder urged as the things still didn't add up for her.

"Well to shorten it" Spyro began "After Oxidus seriously injured Blizzard Igüsa kept putting herself before him" Spyro started. "She kept sending Frost away to look after his father and kept insisting that she was fine" Spyro stopped his story for a moment and looked Igüsa because he felt a little bit uneasy about praising her so much when she was sitting in the room.

However Igüsa smiled and nudged for him to continuo.

"After he woke up Blizzard went to Igüsa and fired her. Georga and Frost tried to protest but Blizzard wouldn't listen" Spyro said.

"The next day I went to Frost and talked with him about what happened. Then I got the idea about Cyril and together we went to him and convinced him to hire Igüsa" Spyro finished.

"You're very kind Spyro" Ember said smiling very warmly.

"Oh, um, thank you" Spyro stammered taking a step back. It wasn't visible because of the paint but Cynder knew Spyro well enough to know when he was blushing.

"Yes Spyro, you're very kind dragon" Cynder took a few more steps towards him to torture him even more.

Now even through the paint Cynder could see his blush.

Cynder didn't want to torment Spyro more so she turned back to Igüsa "So is it better than your previous job?" she asked.

"Much better, the pay is far greater and the workload is much less" Igüsa said cheerful.

"Yeah and you seem to have taken a liking of your new boss as well" Spyro said sly.

"Oh, that, um-" Igüsa now started blushing herself.

"Huh?" Cynder hated it that she knew so little about what was going on.

"Just ask it to Cyril" Spyro suggested.

Seeing that Spyro really liked to keep her in the dark Cynder decided just to do that.

"Well I really need to go now" Igüsa got up from the floor "I don't want to look bad on my first day"

"True" Spyro said.

Igüsa turned and walked away but when Cynder looked at Ember she saw that Ember was still in the room.

"Um Cynder, I was wondering if you would stay with me. I have a few things I would like to discuss" Ember now asked.

"What then?" Cynder asked.

"Well I would like to say it to you in private" Ember said looking to Spyro

"That's fine" Spyro said. "I'll go to the dragon stands and watch the tournament"

"I'll join you soon" Cynder said to him.

"Okay" Spyro said before closing the door behind him.

* * *

"So Ember, what's up?" Cynder asked now that they were alone.

"Have you been around Georga lately?" Ember asked with a seriousness that Cynder hadn't heard from her before.

"Yes, I visit her yesterday but she had very little to say" she said.

"She was silent to me as well" Ember sighed.

"What do you think happened to her?" Cynder asked.

"I don't know but my guess is that it has something to do with Oxidus"

"That's what I was thinking too" Cynder agreed.

"I say that we go and check it out" Ember said strongly.

"What! But how are we going to do that?" Cynder asked very surprised.

"By asking!" Ember said with a raised voice.

"Are you sure?"

"Well if we don't do something Georga will turn out just like Oxidus" Ember said pressing.

Cynder suddenly realised that Ember had a good point in that one.

The way she was acting. Georga indeed started to look a lot like Oxidus.

And that was something that they could not allow.

"Yes Ember let's go" Cynder said now also was convinced that they should do something before Georga was gone.

The two dragonesses flew trough the aerial entrance and instantly headed towards Georga's house.

* * *

They reached Georga's house in about 10 minutes of flying and landed in the streets.

Cynder took the initiative and knocked on the door. She doubted Georga was watching the matches seeing the mood she was in.

A minute later Volt appeared in the hallway with a half sad look in his eyes.

"Oh, hi there Ember. Who's your new friend?" He asked with a clearly fake cheerfulness.

"Oh, um, well, this is Glacia. She is one of the dragons I play tailball with" Ember lied.

"Glacia?" Cynder wanted to correct her but she closed her mouth just in time.

"We wanted to talk to Georga" Ember's voice now sounded very serious and mature.

Cynder was quite surprised by that, Ember was usually childlike, carefree and sometimes a bit shy. Now Ember sounded very mature and sure of herself.

"Well she's not home, she went to watch the tournament" Volt said.

"Okay thank you Volt" Ember said before turning back.

She had gone to watch the tournament after all but Cynder somewhere found it more likely that she was off moping somewhere.

Ember took off and Cynder was close behind.

* * *

"So what do you think we should do once we see her?" Cynder asked as they flew back to the citadel.

"I don't know Cynder" Ember said a bit uncertain.

"But I'm defiantly not going to let Georga follow in Oxidus' footsteps" She added to that compulsively.

"Yes that's not going to happen" Cynder was very impressed by Ember's determination and assertive attitude. She had no clue of what was going on or what she could do about it. She just knew she had to do something.

Suddenly Ember turned around and headed away from the citadel.

Cynder quickly turned as well and made a few fast flaps to catch up again.

"Where are you going?" She asked her pink companion.

"Talking to Georga right now will get us as far as talking to Oxidus" Ember said.

"We have to do this in private" She reminded Cynder.

Cynder still didn't really get it but followed Ember nonetheless. Ember seemed to have ideas while Cynder didn't know anything.

Suddenly Ember went downwards and not knowing why Cynder dove after her.

They landed in the garden of one of the houses and Ember walked through the curtain and into the house.

Cynder guessed this house was her own by the casual way Ember acted so she also went inside without asking.

Cynder had never been in Ember's house before so she looked around.

The house was a standard model just like the ones of Georga and Flanner so it looked a lot like those.

The living room was centred around the fireplace and there were two couches to lie on. The walls were just brown yellow like the exterior walls and there was some stuff littered around. There were a couple of curtains who let to different rooms and on the right side Cynder spotted a small desk.

Being busy over that desk was a adult fire dragoness. She was of a heavy build, had large demonic black spikes on her back and her scales were a crimson red. Cynder didn't know who this dragoness was but she seemed to be absorbed in the book she was reading.

"I'm home mom" Ember said answering the question of who the dragoness was.

"Not feeling like watching the tournament anymore?" The mother asked while she looked up from her book.

"Oh hallo there" She said right away as she spotted the blue Cynder.

"I'm C-" Cynder started.

"This is Glacia" Ember quickly corrected her.

"Hallo there Glacia, my name is Wilmfe" Ember's mother said kindly.

"A pleasure" Glacia said.

"She has come to play mom, is that okay" Ember took the word for Cynder again.

"That's fine" Wilmfe said as she turned back to her book.

"Let's go to my room, I have something you just gotta see" Ember said with a pretended cheerfulness.

"Sure thing" Glacia chirped back following in Ember's act.

As Glacia was following Ember suddenly something caught her eye.

On the corner next to the desk someone had painted the word 'NAUGHTY' in bright red letters.

Glacia didn't know what it was or what it was for so she just followed Ember to her room but it really caught her eye.

Ember walked through the curtain that Glacia guessed was her room.

When they entered they could drop the Glacia act again.

Ember's room was just like Cynder had imagined it to be. A full toy shelf and many bright happy colours. Other than that it was pretty plain.

"What was that corner about?" She asked.

"What corner?" Ember asked ignorant.

"That corner that has the word naughty written on it" Cynder said although she found it hard to believe Ember didn't know what she was talking about.

"That's nothing" Ember tried to dismiss it but her voice betrayed something hidden.

"Well It's still there" Cynder insisted.

"It was my naughty corner when I was a hatchling okay!" Ember snapped.

"Okay, okay. No need to be so fierce" Cynder took a step back.

"But anyway, what are we going to do about Georga?" Ember said either trying to stick to the point or to lure Cynder away from the topic.

"You know Georga longer than I do so I have no idea either" Ember had asked her multiple times but Cynder never had an answer.

"Georga told me you managed to cheer her up before so how did you do that?" Ember said.

This now explained for Cynder why Ember was seeing her like the expert despite her shorter term relationship with Georga.

"Well last time I pushed her into a corner and then her will broke"

"You mean that you battled her and defeated her?"

"Yes, but I don't think that will work this time around" Cynder said a bit sad.

"Last time she was sad and very emotional, however she was still open so I just faced her problem head on and when I got her to talk we settled it"

"But this time-" Cynder started.

"Is no different" Ember finished for her.

"No different?" Cynder said sarcastically.

"No different, we just need to push her in a slightly different way" Ember said as she apparently had an idea.

"And what were you thinking about then?" Cynder asked very curious to what Ember had planned.

"Well you better sit down cause I don't think this will be easy" Ember said as she sat down now.

Cynder settled down as well and the two dragonesses slowly created their plan.

* * *

It was in the afternoon as Volt thinking about Georga again in his house.

He didn't go to the tournament with Georga today as he thought it was too painful.

"Georga" it just pained him so much to see her like this.

"Just what has happened to you?" he had asked himself that question thousands of times and he never got an answer for it.

He would want nothing than to snap her out of it and get his daughter back but she never responded to anything he said.

Nothing he did seemed to work on her. Not words, not action, nothing.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as he heard someone knock on the door.

He got up and opened the door with his mouth.

He looked down and saw the same ice dragoness that was with Ember this morning.

"Hallo Volt" Glacia said.

"Can I help you?" Volt asked.

"Well actually Volt, you can"

The dragoness suddenly walked past him and jumped on one of the couches. She didn't ask anything and even ignored him.

Volt didn't think it as very proper but he didn't correcting the dragoness and just settled down on the other couch.

"Well I'm in a bit of a rush so I'll get right to it" Glacia said impatient.

"I want you to keep Georga busy for the rest of the afternoon" she said like an order.

"What? Keeping Georga busy?" Volt was very surprised by the dragoness just walking in and giving him orders.

Especially orders about what he should do with Georga.

"Yes, think of something. It doesn't really matter what it is but just keep her busy" Glacia confirmed.

"What do you want? And why anyway?" Volt said confused and also a bit angry by the attitude of this dragoness.

"That's a secret" Glacia said fierce.

"I also don't want you to mention me to Georga at any point" she strictly added.

"But what?" Volt had no idea what to say.

"If you love her than you will do this. Make sure she doesn't get anywhere" Glacia now sounded serious.

'Love her' the words resounded in his head.

"Make sure that at 7 o'clock she is at the-" the dragoness started but didn't finish.

"No, put her in the honour box and I'll take care of it" Glacia said apparently changing her mind.

"I, um, sure" Volt stammered.

"If you love her than you will do this Volt!" she said stern.

Glacia got up from the couch and walked towards the exit with a hastened pace.

"We're counting on you" she said very grievous and almost threatening.

She spread her wings, flapped them and disappeared.

* * *

"What was that about?" for Volt it all had happened so quickly that it was already over before he even got a grip on the situation.

He took a deep breath and replayed the event to get it sorted out.

"That Glacia just comes barging in. Jumps on a couch and orders me what I should do with Georga!" Volt though angrily.

"If you love her than you will do this Volt!" now the though entered about that sentence that she had said.

He did love her and he desperately wanted to do something for her.

"But maybe Ember and that Glacia can really bring Georga back" Volt though as it was the first signs of hope for him.

Volt took some more time to think it over and then he decided he would do it.

If Ember and her insolent friend could really bring Georga back then he would help them in any way he could.

Actually what he had told Ember and Glacia this morning was a lie. Georga hadn't left the home at all today and she had even missed the match of Oxidus.

He walked towards the room and got through the curtain.

Georga was lying on her straw pile. She was lying with her back towards him and seemed far in thought.

Volt swallowed as the sight pained him. He felt a strong urge to go away again as every detail of the broken dragoness was torture for him.

"No, I'm doing this because I love her" he thought to encourage himself not to flee.

"Georga!" Volt said a bit fierce.

Georga didn't reply but Volt could see that she wasn't asleep.

"Would you like to-" Volt cursed himself now as to not thinking of something to do, before he addressed her.

He quickly ran a list of anything that he knew Georga liked but more or less picked something at random "Visit the park?" he suggested.

"Visit the park?" he thought right away "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" he kept his mouth closed and his posture fixed to not let Georga notice his doubt and insecurity.

But the idea just was so wrong. It was cold outside and the wind was blowing hard. There was also a reasonable chance that it was going to rain. It was totally the wrong weather for a walk.

Georga let out a deep groan "Okay" she said reluctant.

"Maybe- What?" Volt had never expected Georga to agree like that "Well let's go" he said.

Georga got up from the bed and walked out.

Volt followed her as he thought that she might peep out if he lost sight of her.

It was a stupid though but that Georga agreed to go was so unexpected that Volt felt that anything was possible.

Georga walked outside and waited there.

Volt now spread his wings and took off.

As soon as he could he turned to see if Georga was still with him but to his relief he saw that she too had spread her wings and had gone along with him.

* * *

Georga and Volt flew towards the large park and in a large grass field they then landed.

The park was very close and they had been here before. The park was mostly grassy fields. There were some tries but not all that many. There were a lot of flowers everywhere however and also bushes were plentiful.

The park brought back memories of Georga and Gaius playing together but Volt quickly pushed those away.

He started walking and Georga went along.

"So Georga-" he wanted to start a conversation but he couldn't think of something.

"Did something interesting happen?" he asked.

"Nope" Georga said.

"I mean, outside of, you know. The incident with Blizzard" he said.

Georga stopped now and didn't reply.

"Georga?" Volt looked back to see why she had stopped.

Suddenly Volt's heart skipped a beat as he could hear Georga starting to sob.

"I didn't mean anything by it Georga, I just asked if something happened outside of it" he said in panic.

Georga stopped sobbing and joined him again but she kept her head low.

So low that Volt couldn't even see if she was still crying or not.

Now in fear Volt didn't say anything more and kept walking with Georga.

They kept going for about an hour. They never stopped to rest. Volt really wanted Georga to start complaining about it but she never spoke.

Normally she would be nagging about being tired by only half this time but this time she said nothing.

"Hey Georga, do you know Glacia?" Volt decided to try again to make her speak.

Georga looked away and Volt didn't try to ask it again.

He kept walking with Georga for the rest of the afternoon without saying anything.

When it was six o'clock he ordered Georga to go to the honour box.

Georga didn't object and just did what he told her to do without asking questions.

This again felt very disappointing for Volt.

He was longing so for her to talk. It didn't really matter to him what she said. He would even be happy if she was scolding him and calling him a palooka. He just wanted her to say something.

But Georga never spoke. There seemed no happiness, no anger or any other emotion in her. Only sadness was still there and it seemed to be going away as well. And when it did Georga didn't have any emotions left.

Volt spread his wings and took off back towards his home.

"Can I really rely on that Glacia?" he wondered.

"I don't know the first thing of her and I just allow her to do who-knows-what with my daughter?" he was now starting to feel a bit reluctant and even felt something for going after Georga and keeping her home.

"But- if she really could do it" Volt stopped and hovered above the ground.

"Georga"

Somewhere he felt like he had no choice but to leave Georga to Ember and Glacia.

"What kind of parent am I?" he thought very serious.

"I've never been able to support her. Not last time and not this time either"

He now continued his way home with almost the same mind as Georga had.

* * *

In the early evening Georga was watching the watches unfold from the honour box.

She had hoped the walk with Volt would clear up some things for her but it only had made it worse.

She had been watching for about half an hour now but felt that she had only just arrived.

When she was in the honour box Frost mostly kept her company but this time she kept him as far away as she could.

Georga just didn't know what to do anymore. Oxidus was gone for good and that was all her fault. What could she have done? Just why had she lost him?

"Hey Georga?" Georga recognised the voice of Cynder behind her.

She didn't reply nor did she even look back at her. She just wished for Cynder to go away again and leave her alone.

"AU!" Georga cried as she suddenly felt the sharp fangs of a dragon biting in her tail.

"Hallo Georga" Cynder said now releasing her tail.

"What are you doing?" Frost now involved himself as well.

Cynder whispered something to him and Frost instantly backed off.

"Georga, Ember told me to come and get you. She has something she wants to show you" Cynder said apparently excited.

"No, but thanks for asking" Georga said absent.

one of the dragon guards now approached them "I'm sorry but only invited dragons can enter the honour box" he said admonished.

"It's okay, she is with me" Frost assured him.

"Relatives need permission too" The dragon insisted.

"Just give me a few seconds, I've only come here to pick up Georga" Cynder said agitated.

"Just make it quick" The dragon said apparently agitated as well and he returned to his watching post.

"Why not Georga? She has specifically asked for you" Cynder said.

Georga pretended to be watching the match but it looked very fake.

"She said it had something to do with Oxidus" Cynder said.

Georga's blood temperature went up for a second but then quickly went down again.

"She had a plan to what you could do for him" Cynder said.

"Something I can do for him" those words really hit Georga in her heart.

"Fine, I come" Georga said. Maybe if this was real then at least she could have done something for Oxidus.

Cynder didn't say anything more. She spread her wings and the two dragonesses took off from the honour box.

* * *

While they were flying Cynder kept a good distance from Georga and didn't speak to her. She was very happy that Georga had agreed to come as she for a second was afraid that she might have to use force.

Why the second argument about Oxidus worked while the first one didn't have any effect at all was a mystery to her. But only thing that really mattered was that it had worked and that their plan was now set in motion.

Despite everything set in motion Cynder still had doubts about it "Can this really work?" she thought.

She remembered that Ember was waiting for her to bring Georga so she pushed the thought away.

Cynder let Georga halfway across town but when they flew over Ember's house she didn't show any signs of gliding down.

Instead she continued on her path towards their destination.

Georga didn't say anything but just followed Cynder.

Cynder was running their plan inside her head again and again. Ember had done most of the preparations and Cynder hadn't been there to see it.

Therefore she had no idea of Ember had succeeded or that she had failed.

But too bad the only thing she could do was trusting that Ember could pull this off.

Cynder was a bit insecure about these things and hated it if she couldn't be sure. She didn't know Ember all that well yet and now she had to trust her that she could do something very difficult to do in only a day.

Cynder's doubts were also partially because she knew she could never do it.

And even if Ember had the ability to do it there was still no quarantine that it would work.

With her head full of doubt Cynder landed in the middle of the city close to a place that was very familiar to Georga.

It was a large dragon dojo and it was the same one as where Oxidus gave his lessons.

Cynder looked to see how Georga was doing and she spotted her eyes starting to moisten. They were clearly wet but they were not yet so wet that she was crying.

"She will be soon enough" Cynder thought to herself as she walked into the dojo.

Georga never spoke to her and kept following. Things were going well on her end and she really hoped that they were also right on Ember's end.

After all they all needed to do their respective part perfectly in order for this to succeed.

She walked through the curtain on the far right just like agreed.

Suddenly Georga stopped and it seemed like she was facing an invisible wall.

"I don't want to" Georga whimpered like a little hatchling.

"But you have to Georga, for Oxidus' sake" Cynder said as apparently it made an impression on Georga.

It worked and Georga got moving again.

Just before they were going to enter through the curtain Cynder unleashed a fear scream to give the sign.

She now quickly stepped behind Georga and pushed her along.

"You're not going to like this" Cynder whispered to herself.

* * *

Georga walked through the curtain with Cynder behind her. How this was going to help Oxidus was a complete mystery to her.

Then, suddenly, she heard a tremendous blow and quickly poked her head through the curtain to see what it was.

Her breathing stopped and her heart froze as she spotted small young fire dragon battling a full grown adult ice dragon.

Fire dragon was covered in smears of blood coming from holes everywhere on his body and he seemed full of rage and anger.

His opponent was also covered in blood and Georga could see heavy injuries all over him.

The fire dragon roared and unleashed a strong blast of concentrated fire.

This move was very familiar to Georga.

The adult ice dragon got hit full in the chest and was blasted into the opposite wall.

He was screaming loudly and seemed to be in a lot of pain.

The ice dragon shot an ice shot but the fire dragon countered with another fire stream. The fire completely melted the ice attack and when it hit the dragon it caused him to scream once more and even louder this time.

Memories and thoughts about Oxidus instantly reappeared in Georga's mind.

Oxidus was tearing Blizzard apart!

"Oxidus NO!" She shouted almost without thinking.

The fire dragon didn't seem to hear her and continued his relentless assault on the ice dragon.

The ice dragon unleashed a barrage of ice shots but the fire dragon easily dodged them all.

He used a comet dash and slammed hard into the ice dragon's chest.

The ice dragon was blasted into the opposite wall again. The blow was hard and the dragon wheezed from the blow.

"Oxidus stop it! You have beaten him!" Georga shouted out with all her might as she started to cry.

"You're going to pay!" The fire dragon said with a grinding voice full of hate, rage and aggression.

Georga couldn't bare the scene anymore and turned around to run away.

Suddenly she bumped into Cynder who had her wings spread wide to completely block off the exit.

"Let me go!" Georga yelled at her full of pain. The scene was pure torture for her.

"No!" Cynder said a voice that wasn't moved by her tears at all.

Georga fearfully turned her eyes back to the fight where the fire dragon now bit viciously into the flesh of the ice dragon.

The sight overwhelmed Georga and she wanted to run out of the room but once again Cynder just wouldn't allow it.

"Go away!" Georga shouted at her ferociously.

She didn't have to see this! She could just run away and forget this all even exists.

"No Georga, I won't leave" the blue dragoness said harsh.

"I beg you Cynder" Georga whimpered full of tears but it didn't seem to have any effect on Cynder.

Georga then tried to ram Cynder out of the way but as she perfectly knew Cynder was just way too strong for her.

She tried with all her might but she couldn't move Cynder even one little bit. Georga just was too weak.

"Please Cynder, if you're my friend then" Georga sobbed "Then please let me go" She screamed with all her agony.

"I'm sorry Georga but I can't" Cynder said emotionless.

Georga's attention was forced back to the massacre by a loud roar from the fire dragon. He rammed the ice dragon hard in the chest with his horns. He had a lot of speed because he had used another comet dash.

The ice dragon yelped from the pain. The horrible sound cut clean through Georga's hearing senses.

However the ice dragon quickly swiped the fire dragon away with on of his paws and the dragon skated along and came to a rest on the floor.

The fire dragon then jumped up again and unleashed another loud roar.

Georga had all seen it in her head and now it was all real. Everything she feared for now really was happening right in front of her.

"Please stop this! This isn't a battle Oxidus!" She yelled with all her heart and soul but nobody seemed to hear her.

The fire dragon opened his mouth and unleashed a steady barrage of fire balls at the wounded and weakened ice dragon.

The ice dragon screamed from every single blow as they kept coming one after the other and seemed much too weak to defend himself.

However that didn't stop the fire dragon at all as he continued his assault.

The ice dragon was defeated. But it looked like the fire dragon didn't even notice that.

The melody of the blasts and the screams just felt like the most horrible sound in the world to her. Oxidus wasn't going to stop for anything. He was going to kill him and then keep attacking until there was nothing left.

"Oxidus no!" Georga now ran towards her friend with tears flowing down her cheeks.

She rammed him hard with her horns and finally stopped his relentless assault.

"This isn't you Oxidus! This isn't-" Georga yelled while she was standing over him but then her jaw fell open as it hit her.

This dragon indeed wasn't Oxidus at all.

He also had bright yellow wings, a muscular build and a red body but it was not her best friend.

The dragon's eyes told her that he wasn't Oxidus and they also told who it really was.

"Spyro?" Georga yelled in disbelief. "What! What is this?"

"Good Georga, good work, do you feel any better now?" Ember appeared now behind the curtain.

She smiled and seemed almost amused like she had watched a good stage act.

"What? How? This is!" Georga absolutely had no idea what was going on.

"Now that you have stopped Oxidus do you feel any better now?" Ember asked cheerfully.

It was a scene of destruction and pain and Ember didn't seem moved at all.

"This isn't Oxidus!" Georga yelled the obvious.

"Sheesh you think so?" Spyro said sarcastically from his uncomfortable position on the ground still pinned down by Georga.

Georga jumped off of him still looking shocked and very confused.

"So Georga" Ember still sound very casual "What was it that was bothering you so much you started to imitate Oxidus?"

"I wasn't imitating him!" Georga shouted while snapping her head furiously towards the pink and blue dragons.

"Well you sure were acting like him" Cynder said also in a amused tone.

"I was not!" Georga denied.

Suddenly Ember's face turned very serious and even dangerous "Yes you were" she said sternly.

"Why is it that you've started to act so coldly? Is it because Oxidus is as well?" Cynder said.

"No! It's just that-" Georga just couldn't find the strength to finish her sentence.

"Because he has left you!" Cynder insisted.

"It is because I couldn't do anything!" Georga finally admitted.

"Oxidus is gone now and it's all because I didn't provide him the support he needed!" Georga yelled with an deafening loud voice as it came from the very bottom of her heart.

"Oxidus isn't gone" Cynder denied now walking closer towards her.

"Of course he is!" Georga snapped.

"No Georga, Oxidus is not gone" Ember's words seemed to make more impression than Cynder's.

"But we sent up this tournament to find out what was wrong didn't we?" Georga shouted with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, so?" Cynder said ignorant.

"So! Why isn't it working? I need to do something but I can't but I have but I-" Georga rattled in tears.

"Not working? The tournament isn't over yet!" Cynder interrupted.

"We still have the victory tournament Georga"

"But what if that doesn't work either?" Georga snapped with fear.

"But what if it does?" Ember asked sternly as she also walking closer to her.

Both Ember and Cynder now were less than a metre away from Georga.

"I can't just gamble on him!" Georga shouted now also showing signs of anger.

How could these two expect her to just take a chance with him? Oxidus wasn't a thing you could just bet on like in a contest.

"So you can't trust him?" Cynder asked shocked.

"What?" Georga exclaimed with tears in her crystal eyes.

"You can't trust Oxidus that he will return?" Cynder was sounding very serious now.

"I-I-" Georga stammered.

"Georga, do you care enough for him that you can put your faith in him?" Cynder asked sounding death serious.

"Can you trust your best friend?" every single tone of the words hit Georga in the core.

"Of course I trust him!" Georga shouted out feeling assaulted by the question.

"Well then trust him that everything that everything will be fine Georga" she urged.

"Cynder is right you know" Ember said.

"You must trust Oxidus that he will find his way again"

"But when I lost my way he did so much for me and now I can't do anything for him" Georga said regretful.

"You indeed can't do anything by giving up on him Georga!" Cynder yelled with aggression.

"You must have hope and support him like you've always done" Ember said with a more kinder tone than Cynder.

"But-"

"But nothing Georga!" Cynder said still with an aggressive voice "Oxidus is still your friend, no matter what happens Oxidus is and will always still be your friend!" she shouted to her.

"But I just can't be sure that the friend I want will ever come back to me" Georga protested fearfully.

Cynder took a deep breath and waited a few seconds before speaking "Georga-" she now sounded more calm but her voice still had a sharp edge "-Let me tell you this: I also don't know what to do with Spyro. He never seems to notice me no matter what I do, but I believe in him and I will stand by his side no matter what happens"

"You haven't failed him yet Georga" Ember now spoke up again.

"But you will fail him if you give up" Cynder added.

"The old Oxidus is still somewhere deep inside and ready for you to find"

"Yeah but can I find him again?" Georga asked sobbing.

"Not yet Georga" Cynder shook her head sadly "You were right about one point. Right now Oxidus is out of your reach but that doesn't mean he's gone forever"

"We've set up the Igus cup to find the reason behind his depression and the cup isn't over" Cynder said although she had the feeling that they have been through all of this all before.

"So if you now start to become depressive too then we have two lost dragon to find" Ember joked as to lift up the mood a little.

"So do you really want to give up on Oxidus?" Cynder asked her voice also having a lighter tone.

"No! I won't give up on my best friend!" Georga shouted as it felt as an accusation.

Cynder and Ember took another step towards Georga and the three dragonesses all were face to face.

"Remember this Georga" Ember said soothing "You are never alone. Even if Oxidus is out of your reach you will always still have your friends with you" Ember said with an extremely soft and almost maternal sounding voice.

"We will always support you Georga" Cynder said soothing. "You can count on us. Always"

"Thanks, you guys" Georga hugged them with her wings while shed the last of her tears.

As long as her friends were here she indeed was not alone.

They would always be there to help her whenever she needed them. No matter what it was.

"You know Georga, you should really make yourself a bit tougher" Ember lightly, breaking the touchy moment.

"You face a few setbacks and you're in tears right away" she said almost patronizing "Come on, you're thirteen now and that means you're not hatchling anymore!"

"Oxidus isn't gone but only away for some time" Cynder said a bit more gentle

"You said that he supported you? Well this is your chance to repay him by never giving up" she encouraged.

"I won't ever give up on anyone ever again Cynder" Georga said determined as she brushed away the tears from her face.

"That's the spirit" Cynder said tenderly.

Cynder and Ember now started walking towards the exit and it was only now that Georga took notion that Spyro and the ice dragon were both gone.

She was so into the moment that she hadn't even noticed them leaving the room.

"Hey are you going to come or what?" Ember asked a bit impatient and Georga quickly rushed after her.

When she walked out through the curtain she spotted Spyro and the ice dragon standing side by side at the other end.

"I hope it was a success" The ice dragon said and he clearly was not pleased.

"You guys are going to kill me one day with these requests of yours" he said very fierce and with a clear sense of anger.

It was only now that Georga realised that the ice dragon who Spyro had been fighting was Cyril.

He had been painted partially red to imitate blood and he looked like he had a few burns from his fight.

Spyro had crimson red paint on him as well and they had painted the wounds on his body as well.

"Was I really fooled?" Georga found it embarrassing. The blood made of red paint was so fake that it looked like not even an ape would buy it.

"Maybe you should go home now Georga" Cynder suggested.

"Yeah I think so" Georga said as she also wanted to get away from this. It was all still a bit traumatic for her.

"I promise you that I won't give up on Oxidus ever again. And when the time is right I will take him back!" She assured them "You can count on that!"

"You will Georga" Cynder nudged.

"Thank you so much for reminding me not to give up on my best friend, and for giving me the hope back that one day he will return" Georga said grateful now feeling hope for the future again.

Oxidus wasn't gone and she hadn't failed anything. That it didn't work yet just meant that it needed more effort and with what she owned him she was more than happy to give that effort.

If it was for Oxidus it seemed that she would and could do anything.

"Should we go with you?" Cynder offered.

"No, I will get home now by myself" Georga said smiling but actually she tried to hide something else.

"Thanks again you guys, I will never forget this" Georga smiled down at her group of friends.

"Bye Georga" Cynder said as that was normal.

"Bye" Georga said just before walking out of the building and spreading her wings to take off.

* * *

Georga was flying back through the evening sky with both a lack and an abundance of energy.

She was feeling very tired from the shocking day but she was also feeling full of energy to make Oxidus come back.

However instead of flying straight home like she had said she was heading into a totally different direction.

There was something she still needed to do before this matter was solved.

She landed in the old part of Warfang and walked to a decayed house that stood there.

She knocked on the door with her talons and waited patiently for someone to open.

Georga had promised her friends that she was fine now but in reality she wasn't okay just yet.

She had to hear it from him first. Only then could she finally put the things that she had witnessed behind her.

After what seemed like ages the door opened and revealed Igüsa standing in the hallway.

"Well hallo there Georga" She said in her usual friendly tone.

"I have come to talk with Oxidus" Georga sounded both strong and weak at the same time. She was determined to do it but it was clear in her voice that she was still emotionally unstable

"Well come in then" Igüsa said still with her usual cheerfulness.

Georga walked through the door with a very heavy mindset. She didn't know if she would even be able to take a refusal.

She walked towards the garden where she him like usual. He was looking at the moon and appeared deeply in thought. Yet somehow it gave Georga a better impression than it had once done.

"Um, Oxidus" Georga said very uneasy and almost scared.

"Yes?" Oxidus said sounding absent but not sad anymore.

Georga tried to get the words out but yet somehow she didn't feel able to.

"Enjoying the night?" She said as a substitute. It seemed her lips weren't going to allow the words she wanted to go through.

Oxidus didn't give a reply and for Georga that only made her situation even more difficult for her.

"Oxidus, what I really wanted to ask you-" Georga's jaws uncontrollably shut tight now and wouldn't open.

Her tail was curling in circles and her wings rubbing against each other as she put herself under tremendous pressure.

Oxidus didn't look to her anymore and Georga felt that raise the pressure even further.

She had to ask it! She had to ask it now! She had to ask it right here, right now!

"Are we still friends?" Georga shouted as she used every last bit of her will to finally force the question out.

Oxidus at first didn't reply but then he looked at her with his bright orange eyes. Georga's face was full of fear. If he said 'no', well she couldn't even think of what she would do.

"We are friends Georga" he said with a voice that warmed her soul.

"Thank you Oxidus" Georga said very happy as she could now feel her broken heart heal.

"I won't bother you any more Oxidus" She said "But remember that I will always be here for you. You are never alone" She said now very determined to do her saying.

"I won't give up on you and if you need ever something then remember that I will always be there for you" She soothing.

Oxidus didn't reply to it but it didn't bother Georga any more. She got the answer she wanted already and she had said the things she needed to say.

"Bye Oxidus" Georga said as she prepared to leave.

"Bye" Oxidus replied a bit weakly.

Knowing that Oxidus was still her friend was all Georga needed to know and she prepared to head back to her own house now.

In that house Volt was waiting for her. Oxidus might be away now but that would not last forever. That much she knew for sure.

Something she also couldn't forget is that Volt still loved her very dearly. She couldn't let him suffer as well by giving up. She had to keep going and stay strong. For the sake of Oxidus, Volt, her friends and also for herself.

Just as she flapped her wings and took off from the ground she thought heard the words "Thank you" however it sounded so vague that she properly just imagined it.

* * *

Meanwhile Ember had already arrived home.

She had to talk over what had happened with Cynder before she could leave. After that she had to thank Spyro for efforts and then she also had to make ten apologies to Cyril before she finally could leave.

Luckily for her the street that her house was on was directly linked to the central square so the reached it quickly.

"Where were you?" As soon as she entered the house the razor sharp voice of her mother shot as lighting through her body.

Ember held her breath and she felt her colour turn bleak. Ember always needed to be back home before dinner time and it was way past dinner.

The consequences of being late she knew only too well.

"I had to do something important" She said as strongly as she could. She didn't feel naughty at all at this moment.

"Well what then?" Her mother now appeared from the kitchen and looked with a punitive glare down at her.

Ember gulped and unwittingly cringed in. The look in her mother's eyes was one of a spanking. She would recognise that look anytime.

"Georga!" She squeaked with a high pitched voice.

"You think playing with Georga is a good enough reason!" Her mother now not only sounded punitive but now even angry.

"Well I-" Ember wanted to say it but just couldn't collect enough courage to do it.

"Come here you!" Her mother said harshly after making her decision.

Ember just lowered her head and obediently walked over to her mother waiting to receive the spanking she didn't deserve.

However her mother had made her decision and it was going to happen. No matter if it was righteous or not.

When she was facing her, her mother turned around and shove her tail underneath Ember.

Ember had her eyes closed as she could she herself being lifted up. Knowing the back of her mother only to well she grabbed the spikes without even looking.

"35 for late, 2 for trying to find an excuse and 13 for lying to me" Her mother summed up.

"50?" Ember exclaimed with her eyes shooting open in shock.

"But I didn't lie" She whimpered as tears already started forming in her eyes before the spanking had even begun.

"I wasn't fooled by that lame disguise!" Her mother snapped.

Ember tried to protest but she just couldn't work up the strength.

She now felt her mother's wings on her back again and she readjusted her breathing a little as she was pressed down.

With the large wings of her mother pinning her down and her paws holding onto the black spires Ember waited for the pain to come.

It came seconds later with the first of the many hard blows on her tailbase.

Ember forced her jaws tight to muffle out her scream.

The next blow followed quickly and it burned into her with the pain that only her mother could give her.

Ember gulped to remain silent but inside she knew it was futile.

The third blow came and Ember didn't bother anymore to keep silent and screamed out her pain.

The fourth blow came and then the fifth.

The blows were harder each time and tears were already on Ember's cheeks by number ten.

The burning feeling of the spanking coursed through her body.

Tears kept rolling down her cheeks and she could hear every blow being harmonious with the pain.

Somehow hearing the blows made them feel even worse. Although she perfectly knew it the sound confirmed that it was really her that mother was causing it by hitting her. The pain that she was feeling came from those blows and not from anywhere else.

The tears on her cheek were now so numerous that the first one dripped onto her mother's back when they had reached number 20. However they weren't even halfway there yet.

Trying to protest to her mother was pointless. All she could do was accept her punishment while crying and shouting out her pain.

The injustice she so strongly felt made it also mentally more agonizing. She had to help Georga and her mother was punishing her because she thought that she just went to play with her.

"This spanking-" Ember's thoughts were shortly interrupted by a hard smack.

"-I didn't deserve it" Ember thought as she grinded her teeth from another hard blow.

Wilmfe continued to spank her daughter using her tail with the same machine like ruthlessness she had always done.

Ember could feel her tailbase growing red and she desperately wanted the pain to stop. She just feeling so powerless.

Her mother was punishing her for the wrong reasons and she had to accept that.

But it just hurts so much. Ember didn't deserve any part of it.

She cried harder and harder with each blow that landed on her. By the time they had reached 40, her tailbase was completely red and every part of Ember's face that was below her eyes was completely wet from her tears.

Ember just couldn't take it anymore. "Please stop!" she screamed.

"I beg you mom. I had to help Georga!" She cried out.

She then felt her mother stop. "Maybe mom does understand" Ember thought hopeful.

"5 more for talking back!" Ember screamed from an unexpected blow on her rump as the spanking started again.

The force of the blow combined with the razor sharp edge of her mother's voice quickly destroyed any hope that Ember had.

Ember didn't bother talking anymore as her mother would only add blows. She would never subtract them.

Ember had not lost tract of the blows and just continued to count them.

She just cried and screamed from the pain until as the number slowly rose towards the end.

Now they had reached 50 and because she had talked they were not done yet.

Her mother didn't stop at 50 for second and just continued beating her.

Inside Ember's sense of justice was yelling at her to stop this.

However as strong as it was the blows on her behind were even stronger.

The blows beat the strength out of her every time and Ember was completely helpless against the pain that her mother was giving her.

As if it took forever they reached her mother hit her the additional 5 times and then at last she finally stopped.

Ember was crying heavier than she had ever done before during a spanking because she felt that it was the right thing to do for what she was just punished.

"You're going to sleep in the naughty corner tonight you hear me!" Her mother ordered harshly before she even lowered Ember down.

"Yes mom" Ember whimpered as she was crying so heavily that she had to do her best not to stutter.

She felt her mother shoving her tail under her again and lift her up. When she was put down on the ground she walked towards her naughty corner and rested down. She never spoke nor did she stop crying.

To not let her sore behind lay on the grinding floor she put her legs under her. When she was on the floor she curled her tail around herself to keep warm.

"I want you in that corner when I wake up!" Her mother said hateful.

"Yes" Ember whimpered through her crying. She didn't look up at her mother and just kept lying in her sleeping position.

When her mother had left to lie down on her patch of straw to sleep Ember looked back on her behind that was so brutally beaten.

55 was much. Mostly it was between 20 and 40 but no matter what the number was Ember hated it.

Her tailbase was bright red and fell really out of place with the rest of her pink scales. The pain from the spanking hadn't subsided yet and Ember knew her behind would soon heat up as well and also start throbbing what was a very unpleasant thing.

She just pretended to ignore it and catch some sleep on the cold floor.

She was feeling sad and miserable because of her punishment but then she remembered the reason for what she was spanked.

The thought about that made the pain slip away a bit.

She had really helped Georga today and managed to prevent her from turning into another Oxidus.

Ember could still very well remember the thought she had this morning when she was together with Cynder.

"If she turns depressive just like he did than there is no more hope left for either of them" That thought was what got her to put so much effort into it.

The spanking aside, Ember felt no regrets about today and was feeling fully satisfied.

"I wonder how Georga will be tomorrow" Ember thought as maybe Georga would like to come and play again.

She really looked forward to playing with Georga like they used too.

The two dragonesses had been friends for a very long time.

Ember had not seen Georga so often anymore since the siege. But ever since the Igus cup had been first been announced they had spent a lot more time together again. In some way Ember felt that it had reunited them.

"Last time she needed me I wasn't there for her but this time I was" Ember thought half satisfied half regretful.

"But at that time Cynder was there for you" Ember thought. "Cynder is a really nice dragoness. She might be a bit reserved and absent sometimes but she really nice"

Ember now also recalled the act itself to see if she had any regrets about that.

She could very well remember that the heaviness of Georga's reaction had surprised her quite a lot.

It had taken quite a bit of control from her to keep calm and not get emotional herself while Georga was screaming and sobbing.

She had expected her to cry but not to go mental so completely.

"The way she was talking about it-" Ember thought.

"I knew Oxidus meant a lot to her but I had no idea it was that much" Ember somehow felt a bit of shame that she had never spotted how much Georga really cared for Oxidus.

"Oxidus" Ember also wanted back the old powerhouse that she had always thought to be very inspiring to watch in battle.

She had always really liked him and they had played together a lot. Ember also missed him as well did she miss Georga's brother.

He had made quite a few nasty comments on her but he was always nice and friendly.

Ember quickly dispelled the thoughts as to not end up like Georga but her painful tailbase wasn't helping things.

"I wonder how Flame has done today" Ember shifted her mind to him now.

"He had to win if he wants to advance to the victory tournament"

"And he has to. He possesses the power to win the cup"

For the first time Ember was starting to feel guilt that she hadn't shown up at his match today but she had felt that aiding Georga had priority.

It was the only regret she had about this day. But it was either watching Flame or helping Georga.

After thinking it over Ember was convinced that she had made the right decision in helping Georga.

With everything now settled in her head Ember closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep.

The floor was cold and her tailbase was throbbing painfully but Ember was a tough girl. She could handle it. It looked like Ember was a dragoness who could handle anything.


	23. the second round

Author note: I've decided to also make author notes now.

Sorry for the long wait you guys but as my previous message has said I just was really busy. Anyway here is chapter 23. The second round of the Igus cup begins and now the second part of my storyline also kicks in. I hope you didn't mind the long wait.

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 23 the second round**

Ember's eyes slowly opened up as she felt herself lie down on a rather cold and hard underground. Right away she knew it was not her soft and comfy straw pile that lay in her room.

She could feel the throbbing pain still on her behind and looked back to see it red but already fading and turning back to pink.

Now she remembered. How she had had another spanking yesterday evening because she was late for dinner. 55 slaps in all because she talked during the spanking. After the prolonged spanking was over her mother forced her to sleep inside the naughty corner. The most likely reason because it already was past Ember's normal bedtime

Ember hated this babyish naughty corner and to wake up in it was even worse.

The word: NAUGHTY being written on the floor in bright red letters was easy for Ember to read and made this corner unmistakeable.

She tried to not think about it in detail but that was easier said than done. Her throbbing red rump reminded her of the punishment in clear detail.

"Mom, why?" Ember sniffed as she had asked herself that question very often.

Ember was feeling quite stiff and wanted to go outside to train a little like she often did. She also would like it to go to her room and play with her ropes but she didn't even want to think about what would happen if her mother came and didn't find her exactly where she was now.

Just lying there felt boring as Ember was ready and awake but she just couldn't move from her position until her mother came to get her.

"I hope Georga is really okay" to boot Ember also had that to worry about.

For Ember to hire the room, practice, paint and do all the other things they needed was tough and to do it all in just one afternoon had truly pushed Ember's organizing skills to the limit. Cynder had taken care of getting everyone and keeping Georga from getting a sniff of their activities but most of the hard work was still done by her.

Now that she was thinking about it Ember felt a curtain amount of pride in her accomplishment. Despite its obviously painful impact on her friend Ember was glad that she had done it.

However the pain on her tailbase also reminded her of her reward for all that effort.

Ember shook her head to expel that thought. She had helped Georga to be happy again and in a sense also helped Oxidus so that meant what she had done yesterday was a thing to be proud of. She had done her very best and succeeded in helping out her childhood friend, end up story.

"I hope today goes well" she shifted her mind to that now as it was a big day for her.

Today the victory tournament started and Ember was one of the 64 that were going to participate

And not only was she going to participate but she had also won her way into the second round with a perfect winning streak.

Her secret weapon has seen her through all 3 matches without flaw and Ember's mastery of it now was perfect.

"Maybe I could really have a shot at winning the entire thing" Ember thought excited.

That thought was a hopeful one for her because that she might face Spyro on day was a dream come true.

"To fight Spyro-" Ember murmured her eyes filling with joy.

Ember kept thinking about her possible match with Spyro for about another hour while she waited for her mother to arrive.

* * *

"Learned your lesson?" Ember looked up and spotted the crimson red form of mother looking down at her.

Her mother still had the same punitive and fear striking look in her eyes so it brought the thoughts of her punishment back up in a snap.

"Yes" Ember said doing her best to sound as pitiful and sorry as she could.

"Good, I want you to be home before dinner time and if not I want a really good reason for it" Her mother still sounded cold and sharp.

"I understand" Ember bowed her head down in obedience. She actually wanted to protest as she did have a very good reason. However her punishment was over now and risking it for her own personal sense of justice wasn't worth it.

Her mother now walked away to make breakfast and Ember, still thinking she was on thin ice went along to assist her.

This actually was pointless on the matter of punishment but Ember just could never be sure.

Her mother could sometimes give her long spankings for apparently minor things and shorter spankings for seemingly more major things. She just could be so confusing, even Ember couldn't fully figure her out.

Therefore doing her best to please her mother just seemed like the best option right now.

Ember also was just generous and liked helping her mother so she didn't mind it.

* * *

Meanwhile Georga was eating breakfast together with Volt like normal again.

She had told Volt all about what had happened yesterday with the stage act and Volt was quite shocked by it for sure.

It all sounded pretty dramatic and painful for Georga. Yet he could also see that they had only done it for her own good. He also felt impressed by what Cynder and Ember had done. Setting up an entire stage act just to help Georga.

That the insolent ice dragoness that came in and bossed him around was in reality Cynder was a thing he never had seen coming for curtain.

However regardless of that, it warmed his heart that Georga was not going to follow Oxidus' footsteps and become depressive as well. He felt very regretful that he couldn't do anything to help her except keeping her busy for Ember and Cynder. But he was glad nonetheless that she was no longer silent and talked again.

But Georga didn't just stop talking after she was finished with yesterday's events. She continued to talk and talk about anything she could come up with.

"You should have seen Flannery's face, I don't believe I have ever seen her that angry-" Georga laughed and talked non stop now.

She kept talking and talking. There seemed to be no stopping her.

Although she was talking a lot and also quite fast Volt could still mostly understand what she was saying. However if that was for good or bad was the question.

Volt was never really interested in all the girly businesses of Georga but with a depression narrowly avoided he was very happy that she was talking so much and acted so cheerfully.

"So Georga, what are you going to do now about Oxidus?" Volt now dared to ask her. He really wanted to know that but had been partially afraid of asking such a sensitive question to her. However seeing how well Georga was doing right now he decided to risk it.

Upon hearing the question Georga instantly stopped talking and her head dropped down towards the ground.

"I don't know" She mumbled after a few moments of silence.

Volt's face visibly turned worried as he was afraid he had broken Georga again now.

"Georga" he said careful as Georga slowly lifted her head back up.

Volt's fears quickly subsided when he looked into her aqua blue eyes. Georga's eyes shone brightly, filled with strength and determination.

Volt had never seen so much fire in Georga before. Never!

Georga started talking, her voice brimming with equal strength "But I believe in him and will support him. One day I will take him back. When that day comes I don't know but I am sure it will come one day. No matter how far away he may be he is still out there for me to find. As a true friend I believe in him and I know he will return" she proclaimed noble.

"Wow, you sure know your stuff" Volt joked about her poetic speech, trying to get her mood back up.

"Yes, but as I was saying; Then Inge said to her that she-" Georga now instantly got back to her girly blabbering. She hasn't spoken to Volt in days so everything she wanted to tell him in three days she now crammed into thirty minutes.

Volt now got back to eating his meal while giving short replies to Georga as she had trouble eating through all the things she had to say.

Volt now started to regret that the day-care was closed as it seemed Georga had stories to no end.

* * *

When Georga and Volt were at last finally finished eating they went to the citadel to watch the first round of the victory tournament.

The citadel was even more crowded than before because of the event. To make sure they wouldn't loose each other Georga cringed in and walked underneath Volt.

They couldn't see each other this way and Georga didn't like it to walk underneath him. But one upside was that Volt would clear the way for her and she didn't need to worry about getting squashed in the crowd like when she was alone.

As the two had entered the honour box Georga spotted Cynder and Spyro standing next to each other talking.

They had decided to watch as themselves from the honour box instead again of painting themselves over and join the other young dragons below.

Disguising was also starting to become obsolete as the people of Warfang were getting used to them.

Further in the honour box were: Frost, his father and four other dragons.

"Hi Georga. Looking forward to the matches?" Cynder asked friendly.

"For sure, I would love to see Oxidus battle" Georga said trying her best to appear excited. Actually talking about Oxidus still stung with her so she rather would avoid the topic if possible. She mentioned Oxidus to sort of reassure Cynder that she was fine now.

"Well that little stage performance of blasting bighead Cyril sky high worked like a charm by the looks of it" Sparx said referring to Georga's mirthful demeanour.

"Well you are thanked for your gratitude" An annoyed voice grumbled and it was no surprise who it was.

"I get myself smeared and burned, I spend hours with the officials, I-" Cyril started.

"Greetings Cyril still hanging around with lizards I see" Blizzard interrupted Cyril's tirade in a friendly tone that sent shivers through everyone's spine.

"That's me, always treating all dragons with respect" Cyril shot back in the same friendly ice cold voice. He instantly forgot about his displeasure as he smiled coldly towards Blizzard.

"And your equals not" Blizzard murmured making sure nobody would hear.

"I have heard somewhere that you let that filthy lizard that used to be my maid ride on you" Blizzard said next staring Cyril straight in the eye.

Normally Blizzard never openly spoke out in public but Cyril seemed to be the one exception to that rule.

"Yeah, I carried her while Terrador carried you. Keeping her on my back was difficult though as she kept insisting that we should focus on you instead" Cyril now sounded really venomous.

Georga felt very uncertain about the sight of the two aristocratic ice dragons fighting it out in this verbal war but she enjoyed it somewhere.

Although he had never said it to her Georga knew perfectly well how Blizzard thought of her and Volt. So Blizzard meeting his match and now getting bossed around himself was something highly amusing to watch.

Blizzard snorted in disgust "Well firing that insolent lizard was the best decision I've ever made" Blizzard never seemed able to hear the part where Igüsa cared for him. Though it was more likely that he just didn't want to hear it.

"Sure? What do you think?" Cyril now turned his attention to Frost who was standing next to his father.

Frost seemed crawl back a little as he was unsure of what to do with his father standing in the room.

"Still can keep up?" Sparx whispered to his parents who nodded a bit uncertain.

After a few seconds Frost forced his head back up and took almost a battle stance.

"I really liked Igüsa" He said weakly but with the silence in the room nobody had any problems hearing it.

Blizzard shot Frost a punitive glare what caused him to cringe in and bend his head back down.

At that sight Georga now looked up at her guardian that stood beside her.

"A parent sure is powerful" She thought. Frost had no problem defying his father nor did he care what Blizzard thought of him. Yet when he was actually together with Blizzard he barely showed any signs of rebellion at all.

"But did you know that her job was the only thing keeping her and her family from living a horrible life on the streets?" Cyril asked, his voice increasing in volume and his face looking imperiously.

"That filth belonged on the streets anyway" Blizzard spat ice cold.

Cyril's face crinkled and his lips curled back for a second as the sentence had really struck a nerve.

However he relaxed his face muscles fast enough that Blizzard didn't saw that he had struck a blow on Cyril "Well there we differ in opinion" Cyril had regained his razor sharp calmness very quickly but deep down Georga knew that the sentence of Blizzard had really made him angry.

The two ice dragons were glaring at each other with murderous gazes. It looked like lightning was erupting from their pupils and clashing in between them.

The temperature in the honour box was dropping rapidly and Georga saw frost particles going out of the mouths of the two glaring ice dragons.

"Hey Igüsa!" Cyril shouted turning to look behind what broke that stare.

Georga was now very surprised to indeed see Igüsa walking into the honour box and joining Cyril.

"What are you doing here!" Blizzard exclaimed admonished.

"Nothing" Igüsa shrugged and had a totally casual voice "My boss called me and therefore I came"

"Your boss?" Blizzard shouted in disbelief

He shot his head towards Cyril, his face full of shock and disbelief "You hired this lowlife of a lizard?" he yelled.

"Indeed I did" Cyril chirped sounding as if he was really proud of it.

"You are going to deprave and destroy the entire name with acts like these!" Blizzard said admonished as he took a step towards Cyril and the dragons now stood glaring face to face, their muzzles separated by only a few centimetres.

"The bad reputation that our bloodline get's from your complete lack of respect towards any other dragon whatsoever-" Cyril nudged towards Spyro as in giving an example "-Will do far more harm than my displays of kindness en generosity" Cyril said having an similar hostile aura as Blizzard that was just as powerful.

Georga took a step back as did everyone from the dragons as it seemed like something you wouldn't want to get involved with.

"Don't we need to stop them?" Nina asked a bit worried looking concerned to the two dragons berating each other.

"If you do not want to be turned into a cube of ice then I would advice you not to" Sparx shaking his head fearfully.

"You don't want to be near him when that Ice's bags nobility is questioned and it seems this ba… Blizzard fellow is no better"

"You rather not stand between two grandpa nobles whose bloodline pride is on the line"

"Your so called kindness and generosity is going to ruin our entire name. Dragons of nobility can't be seen with dragons of common origin" Blizzard said coldly and he turned his gaze to Igüsa who stood besides Cyril "and especially not lizards like that"

But Igüsa didn't move from it "Well your opinion seems far sought" she repelled.

"Quiet you!" Blizzard barked.

"And why should I?" Igüsa said daring.

"You don't pay me anymore so you can't boss me around" She pointed out.

The discussion now had caught many eyes as it really started to heat up, or better said cool down.

"You're still beneath me you whore!" Blizzard said greatly losing his temper.

"Ah, finally you have said it out loud" Igüsa said not impressed by it at all. She kept her cool pretty well even though Blizzard called her a whore.

Igüsa snorted now and took a high stance like a noble looking patronizingly down on Blizzard.

Blizzard growled at her but just as he opened his mouth Cyril beat him to it.

"Yes, Igüsa is beneath you just as you are beneath me" Cyril said with a sly grin.

Whatever Blizzard was about to say it didn't come as he closed his jaws and snarled in frustration.

Blizzard now snapped his head back towards Igüsa again who stuck her tongue out in defiance.

"You are going to pay for what your brother did!" he threatened.

"Oh, Really?" Igüsa said incredulously cocking her head sideways in a clueless position "And how so?"

Blizzard look wide eyed to the lowly lizard who seemed to have no problem mocking and insulting a dragon such as him.

"You can pay all the damage done. You are considered legally responsible!" Blizzard yelled out as he knew well that there was no way that Igüsa could pay for all the damage.

"Sorry Blizzard but her allowance won't be touched" Cyril said stepping in.

"Say What?"

"I already have put you're responsibility on the repair crew you hired and you are going to pay for everything" he said sly.

"The material, the work hours, the costs of the healer, the-" Cyril summed up.

"That Oxidus was the one who did it!" Blizzard interrupted him.

"Yeah and you're going to pay for it" Cyril disclosed the subject.

"And now I bid you goodbye Blizzard" Cyril said politely bowing to make his point.

"It's been so nice to talk with you" Igüsa added with a bland tone.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Blizzard now shouted.

"Only dragons with permission can enter the honour box" Cyril sneered.

"I have one so why don't you sent that filth away" Blizzard snapped at Igüsa.

"Sorry to disappoint you but your arrangement is declared invalid" Cyril chuckled evilly.

"Invalid?" Blizzard shouted in disbelief.

"Invalid" Igüsa repeated a wide grin adorning her face.

"I decided to give your permission to someone else" Cyril explained.

"You can't do that!" Blizzard protested.

"Oh but I can" Cyril grinned as he now had Blizzard right where he wanted him.

"Just like I can make you pay all the damage" Cyril reminded.

"I'm sure you all are eager to meet her" Cyril said as he headed down.

To everyone's great surprise of everyone he came back a second later with a young dragoness that they knew only too well.

"Ember!" Spyro and Georga both shouted in unison. Cynder and Frost followed a second later.

It was indeed the young pink dragoness who stood underneath Cyril. Looking cheerful and happy like always yet also still bit uncertain.

When Cyril had said that he had given Blizzard's place to someone else Georga was sure that the one was going to be Igüsa.

That it would be Ember was totally unexpected.

"Hallo there" Ember said in her gleeful high-pitched voice.

"You are sending me away for this pink prick?" Blizzard still sounded in shocked and disbelief, like this all just wasn't possible.

"Well, yes, that was the idea" Cyril said using a very uncertain tone to further irritate him.

Blizzard snarled at him in the face but that made Cyril's smirk only even more broad.

Igüsa even had the nerve to openly giggle at him.

"Now, are you going to show yourself out or do you need some assistance?" Cyril asked very politely.

"Come on Frost! We're leaving!" Blizzard barked an enormous rage holding back as he walked away.

"Your arrangement is invalid, the invitation of Frost is not" Cyril corrected.

"Well he is coming!" Blizzard shouted no longer having any grace at all.

Frost looked around his group of friends but quickly found he had to go.

"See you guys later" he said cheerfully as he left.

Blizzard headed home and Frost made sure to keep out of his way. For Blizzard it sure was going to be a very sour day for curtain. Being thrown out of the exclusive zone, getting bested by Cyril, having to pay for all the damage but worst of all having a filth like Igüsa talk to him like that and get away with it.

* * *

Back in the citadel it took a few minutes for everyone to calm down from the hostile and highly charged meeting.

"Wow, you really showed him whose boss" Sparx said being the first to break the silence.

"I sure did, didn't I" Cyril sounded very proud that he had made Blizzard so completely loose his temper.

"Hey Cyril, it seems you know Blizzard extremely well, is he related to you?" Spyro asked as by the things they were saying it seemed like a realistic possibility.

"As in a fluke he is" Cyril sighed "Blizzard is my cousin" It was very clear in his voice that he wasn't fund of Blizzard one little bit.

"How is it that you can talk to Blizzard like that?" Igüsa asked him "Blizzard had always told me that he was the head of the family"

"Well we share that title" Cyril sneered.

"We have the same rank in the family"

"But you have your rank as ice guardian and with that added you overtop him, right Cyril?" Spyro filled in for himself.

"Right young Spyro" Cyril nodded obviously very happy about that fact.

"Why did you give Blizzard's spot to Ember anyway?" Spyro asked as that still was strange.

Cyril didn't know Ember at all. Igüsa would have been the obvious choice.

"Yes why did I get that spot?" Ember asked as apparently it was a mystery to her as well.

"Well I don't know" Cyril admitted causing every to look confused.

"Cynder demanded it of me"

"Cynder?" Spyro turned and looked questioning to the black dragoness next to him.

"Well I just figured that Ember deserved something from all her effort with Georga" Cynder said proudly.

But then Cynder also felt a bit of guilt because if she hadn't done it than Igüsa would have gotten the empty seat.

"That's very kind of you Cynder" Igüsa said as she seemed to read her mind.

Cynder smiled and nodded to her.

"I also never knew you could be so insolent Igüsa" Cynder said almost wryly.

"Yeah, I just always wanted to do that one day" Igüsa said giggling girlishly.

"Well that jerk had it coming to him right?" Cynder snickered.

"Right" Igüsa nodded in agreement

"Anyway, I still have some work to do and I guess so do you" Cyril said looking at Igüsa.

"Yes, I'll get to it" Igüsa said regaining her posture.

"I suggest you come as well Ember" Cyril added.

"Huh? Where does Ember need to go?" Georga asked.

"Don't you know?" Ember responded a bit surprised.

"They want all 64 dragons in the arena for a speech and I am one of those" She said obviously sounding proud about the second part.

"Okay Ember, do your best" Georga said.

"I will" Ember assured them as she walked out to get down to the arena.

* * *

As Ember walked back to her mother she thought about her decision to agree with Cyril's offer.

She had been quite surprised for sure when Cyril just came walking up to her and offered her a place in the exclusive honour box.

Ember however did need to think about it for a moment before making a decision.

If she accepted it then it would mean that she couldn't watch the matches together Flame anymore and her other friends. But then again she would have a much better view of the arena and could be together with Georga, Spyro and Cynder instead.

After some time Ember had decided it was a good idea and agreed.

The hide act of Cyril was a bit annoying but she just went along with it without complaining.

She found her mother again standing near one of the entrances of the arena and walked up to her.

"There you are" her mother said as she noticed her.

"Did that meeting went well?"

"It sure did" Ember said happy although there was nothing special to notion.

"So, ready for it?" Her mother asked now that Ember had arrived.

"More than ever" Ember chirped as she quickly positioned herself next to Wilmfe's front leg.

With her mother by her side Ember walked through the participant's entrance and into the arena.

When they entered the arena Ember felled awed by the sight.

It was filled with dozens of fire dragons. Ember had no idea how many there were already but it there were well over 40 already with ease.

The fire dragons stood everywhere around her, too bad for Ember blocking the view of her friends in the honour box and young dragon stands.

Ember just kept following her mother until she stopped and Ember just stood next to her while trying to look strong.

Then they just waited until the last few fire dragons arrived what took about 10 minutes.

Ember often looked around nervously as she could get a bit intimidated by large crowds. She shuffled a bit closer to her mom for comfort.

However realising what she was doing Ember away again. She wouldn't act like some kind pathetic hatchling right now around these dragons. She was part of this group! She deserved to stand here! Taking a deep breath Ember straightened up and stood as tall as she could. However because she was surrounded by full grown adults on all sides, so no matter how large she tried to make herself she would still look puny.

* * *

When all the 64 fire dragons had arrived the gates closed and Ember waited for what was to come.

She spotted all the dragons looking up and squeezing her way through the crowd Ember got a clear spot and looked up.

She saw Terrador walking into the speakers post and he had Spyro on his right and Cynder on his left. The scene strongly reminded her of the beginning of the cup.

"Congratulations mighty dragons!" Terrador started his speech and Ember listened very closely to it.

"You have all made it through the preliminaries and are now standing here to battle it out for the revered title of Master of Eternal Fire"

"Each and every one of you have proven themselves to be both powerful and determined to make it this far!" Terrador had to catch his breath for a second.

"Somewhere inside of you sleeps the one dragon who will become the grand master of eternal fire!"

"However who that one will be is going to be completely up to you!"

"The victory tournament will be different from the preliminary rounds. It is an elimination match" Terrador explained "This means that you can't afford a single loss. Only the to strongest fire dragon among you will be left standing after he or she has won a total of 6 rounds"

"There will be no second chances in these upcoming matches. So, mighty dragons give it your all in every single battle you fight. Just one loss means elimination so don't hold back. But at the same time there also won't be any breaks anymore between the fights. Therefore do your best but also use your powers wisely"

"Remember that only 1 will truly be the champion but you are all great dragons for making it this far"

"The battles we have seen so far have been spectacular and have made us very proud. So we expect to see much more as the most powerful dragons are now gathered here"

"So mighty dragons never give up and fight with everything you have! The finals are only a few days away" Terrador shouted as he turned around and left. Spyro and Cynder still on either side.

* * *

"That match with Spyro is mine" Ember thought as she nearly jumped from excitement.

"So Ember ready to go down in the first round" Ember heard a masculine voice say close.

She turned to see Flannery stand a few metres away underneath her own mother.

"Not a chance" Ember shot back.

"Boy oh boy I just wonder how far you will come" Flannery said to herself with the sarcasm dripping off of it.

"Further than you will" Ember snapped back at her.

Suddenly Ember spotted her mother starting to walk away.

Ember quickly ran to catch up and walked next to her as if she had never left.

"We'll see about that Ember!" Flannery shouted as she turned her gaze away.

"Yes we will Flannery" Ember said to herself as she and her mother were absorbed into the crowd.

As they walked out the stadium Ember just couldn't wait for her first match to begin.

That speech of Terrador had totally pumped her up big time and Flannery's challenge had only added even more wood to the fire.

Ember desperately wanted to make some burns on an opponent right now! Flannery preferred.

She quickly ran out from underneath her mother and sprinted towards the main hall to check out the new timetables and find out when her match was.

She really hoped right now as she was ready for battle.

Suddenly just as Ember had made her first few steps out she gave a startled yelp as a powerful force on her back forced her feet to give way and her belly to smack on the ground.

There was a crushing force on her back and Ember quickly identified it as the tailblade of her mother. Knowing all its features only too well.

"You stay with me" She said sternly while not lifting her tail up.

"I stay" Ember wheezed having problems speaking due to being squashed by the pressure on her back.

Her mother nodded to her. Only now then did her mother lift up her tail to free Ember.

Ember climbed back to her feet and walked down obediently to her mother, having been reminded who was in charge.

Her mother now started to walk calmly towards the timetables while Ember followed next to her in the same pace.

Ember still wanted to be close to her mother with this many people around anyway so it was not that she hated it to walk next to her.

It was just that it didn't feel nice to know that she needed to do it because she had no choice.

* * *

Walking next to her mother it seemed to take forever before they finally reached to the main room and Ember could check out the timetables.

As Ember looked at it she noticed that it was a different poster than before.

Instead of 32 large boxes littered around there now were small boxes going upwards into a pyramid shape, every box connected with lines upwards, then fusing and moving up again.

The names of all the participants were written in the boxes and Ember quickly found out how the principle worked.

In between the boxes was written when the battle going to take place. The times for the later matches weren't yet filled in for some reason.

Ember paid that no mind and quickly searched the boxes, looking for her name.

When she found it she felt a feeling of disappointment because of the time but that quickly chanced into surprise as she saw who her opponent was.

"Ember 19:00 Inge"

"Me and Inge again?" Inge was the other dragon from block E that had made it through but they already had a battle just two days ago.

It was a very strange coincidence indeed that they would have a battle twice in a row.

"Luck of the draw I guess" Ember shrugged and continued looking to the poster.

She was a bit disappointed that her battle was that late. She was totally excited and eager for it but also knew that she just had to wait until her time was.

Now she spotted her mothers name two sets of blocks away.

"Wilmfe 15:00 Therofous"

She also checked the board for other matches she would like to see from her new spot in the honour box.

"Flame 9:00 Heatwave" She had missed his match yesterday so she surely wanted to see his match today.

"Oxidus 12:30 Blaze" She also didn't want to miss on of Oxidus' battles.

She checked further but spotted nothing else that she felt like she necessarily had to see.

"Checking out the one who is going to wipe the floor with you?" a low female voice asked next to her.

Ember didn't look as it was no surprise who it was "I doubt it" She repelled.

"Why does Flannery constantly have to pick on everyone" Ember thought.

Ember now looked to Flannery and spotted that this time her mother wasn't there.

When her mother was with her Flannery mocked but didn't insult. However when Flannery was alone she could and would say anything.

Flannery also observed the list to check out her matches and Ember, wanting to look someplace else looked at the clock.

She spotted it was already 8:40.

"Mom, Flame's battle is up soon. Can I go now to the honour box now?" She asked.

"Sure" Her mother replied not looking down.

"Thanks mom" Ember said before walking out from underneath her

"Can't do anything without mommy's permission, eh?" Flannery said wryly.

Ember just ignored her and went up to her new seat.

* * *

When she reached the honour box again Ember quickly joined up with Georga. Spyro and Cynder weren't back yet from accompanying Terrador.

"Impressive speech don't you think?" She asked.

"Yeah, it was" Georga replied.

A match started now but neither of the two young dragonesses was really interested so they talked some more until a match began that at least one did find interesting.

"Did we miss something?" Ember turned her head and spotted Spyro together with Cynder, Sparx and two more dragonflies enter the honour box.

"Oh my, a new face?" The pink dragonfly said as she spotted Ember in the honour box.

"Someone else who is pink" Ember thought as she spotted the dragonfly. Pink had always been very characteristic to her.

However she quickly pushed the thought away as a stranger had just addressed her.

"My name is Ember, it's a pleasure to meet you" Ember said blandly as she stood up bowed like was proper. Although the dragonfly was far smaller than her Ember could see it was an adult. She had to show respect to every adult, dragons or not.

"No need to be so formal dear" The dragonfly assured her.

"I'm Nina and this is Flash, we're the parents of Sparx" The dragonfly explained.

"And my foster parents as well" Spyro quickly added to that.

"Foster parents?" Ember thought.

That Spyro had dragonflies as foster parents was a weird idea for sure.

However Ember remembered that she had heard Spyro call Sparx his brother one time.

Therefore if Sparx was his brother than that his parents were dragonflies as well actually did make sense.

She quickly forgot about it as she heard the words she was waiting for.

"Now the battle begins between the Inferno King Flame and Burning Fire Master Heatwave" it was Terrador who was referee now.

Ember looked away from the dragonflies and down into the arena to see how Flame would do in his first round of the victory tournament.

Flame appeared from the gates with more confidence than the last time Ember saw him battle.

He had his head up and walked all the way without stopping, he still was slouching a bit but that was normal.

"You go Flame" Ember thought as Flame was starting to get progressively more confidence.

Ember now turned her eyes to Flame's opponent.

"This isn't going to be easy, even for him" Ember thought shaking her head.

Heatwave was very large dragon, about the same size as Volt was.

Ember could see his muscles very well underneath his scales; also his large horns and deadly looking claws surely would make him a worthy opponent.

But Ember still felt that Flame could beat him so that was not her real concern. The outcome of this match wouldn't depend on Heatwave. It would depend on whatever or not Flame would be able to hold himself together during the battle.

The large fire dragon moved to the centre of the arena and almost laid his tail on the ground.

Having battled adults many times herself Ember was used to the sight. But still it was weird to see the clashing of tails between two dragons of such a different size.

Flame more like smacked his tiny tail against the giant log of the other dragon's tail as truly clashing them was difficult.

They nudged and walked back to their original positions.

"Guess his last match must have gone very well" Ember concluded looking at Flame's improved confidence.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Terrador shouted.

* * *

This time Flame was the first to move and breathed a high speed fire stream at his opponent.

Heatwave moved fast and rolled out of the way of the stream with surprisingly high speed for a dragon his size.

However for Flame just kept up the attack while merely chancing the direction of the fire.

Heatwave tried to jump but wasn't fast enough to avoid it and was quickly engulfed.

But now also was showing that he was as tough as he was fast because he jumped out of the fire stream. Looking relatively unhurt although Ember knew somewhere that the attack had done damage on him.

Flame chanced the direction of his fire stream yet again while never stopping it.

Heatwave now did succeed in avoiding it but that was of little matter.

Flame kept up his attack and Heatwave kept flying around.

To Ember it was like watching a game of chase rather than an actual battle. It was weird but somewhere still amusing.

Heatwave kept tried to outmanoeuvre Flame's fire stream but that was futile.

He was engulfed by it again and again while he was flying around the stadium.

Heatwave couldn't even defend himself from Flame's attack let alone get the chance to launch any sort of counter-attack.

Flame now spread his wings and took to the sky himself what stopped his fire breath for a second.

Heatwave now thought he had a chance to do something but he was mistaken.

When Flame had found his balance in the air he used the continuous stream of fire again and now he was following Heatwave around with it as they flew above the stadium.

Flame seemed full of power and despite having breathed fire almost nonstop for minutes. Flame's energy supply seemed endless as Flame was still looking up and raring to go.

Heatwave on the other hand was gasping from his constant fast moments that he had to make to avoid Flame's fire attack.

The constant hits that Flame dealt him also drained his power very much. Heatwave knew that if he didn't do something very quickly he would loose this match for curtain.

Deciding it was all or nothing now he summoned up every bit of power he had and used his most powerful comet dash on Flame.

Flame spotted it and quickly countered it with a comet dash of his own. However because he had to do it in response Flame didn't have as much time to charge it as Heatwave did.

The two burning dragons clashed but they didn't push as one right away was superior. It pushed the other one down with enormous speed while the weaker one seemed powerless to even slow it down.

Seconds later Heatwave smashed into the ground and the fire erupted up like a volcano. The tower of flames temporarily blocked Ember's view of the battle.

When Ember could see again Heatwave was totally out of power while obviously Flame still had plenty left.

It was proven now beyond doubt. Flame was just way too powerful for a dragon like Heatwave to defeat.

Heatwave had also realised that himself and when Flame jumped on him to make his win, he wouldn't fight back even if he could.

* * *

"And the winner is the Inferno King Flame!" Terrador shouted.

Ember got up and right away ran out of the honour box to congratulate him for the spectacular win.

Forcing her way through the crowd Ember quickly caught up with Flame.

"Now that was a battle Flame" She said praising as soon as she was within hearing distance.

"Yeah, it went well, I guess" Flame sounded half proud but still also a but uncertain.

"It went perfect Flame" Ember said excited. She wasn't just being nice to him now; it was a fact for her that Flame had battled extremely well.

"I just did the first thing that came up in my head and I didn't really fight all that well I just fought as I went along, I didn't use tactics or anything" Flame said the sentence a bit poorly formulated.

"You did use tactics Flame!" Ember contradicted "You exploited your own strong points and tired him out with your large energy supply" She said as it seemed she needed to tell him how he had fought.

"Well I rather get home now" Flame stammered as was normal with him.

He came, did what he had to do and then also left again just as quickly.

Ember didn't have a reason to stop him but doubted for a moment to go with him or to go back to the honour box again.

"Okay Flame, are you coming to watch my battle?" She asked after having decided.

"Well, okay" Flame agreed nodding his head quickly "When?"

"Seven o'clock, I'm facing Inge again" Ember said as apparently Flame hadn't checked it.

"I-I will Ember" Flame said as he walked out and headed back to his orphanage.

* * *

Ember walked back into the honour box and looked at the dragonflies floating above Spyro. She then suddenly remembered that she hadn't properly finished her conversation with them.

"Well why have you two come here?" She asked as it was the first thing that came to her mind.

"Oh, um" The dragonflies both stammered in surprise looking at Ember a bit baffled.

They were almost never addressed to talk with. Most dragons found them insignificant and just ignored them.

Even Spyro's friends only asked who they were and then didn't ask anything more. Only Spyro, Cynder and now also Ember truly talked to them.

"Well Sparx came home again and asked if we wanted to see Spyro again" The female said after a while.

"Really? Well were do you live then" Ember asked next as the next battle she wanted to see was still hours away.

"Well we live in the swamp. I don't know how we can point it out for you" Flash said now almost feeling bad to disappoint the eager dragoness.

"Well finally someone who is interested" Sparx muttered to himself.

"Well it is close to the old dragon temple but…" Spyro tried but also couldn't give Ember a good idea of the swamp's location.

"You can show me over a map" Ember offered.

"We will" Nina said to her.

"Well no time like the present" Ember urged, she wanted to see the battle of Oxidus and checking this up would fit nicely in between. She also felt quite curious about it, Ember had never been very far from Warfang before so the outside world she found very interesting.

"You mean right now? Well-" Nina was very surprised by the eagerness of the young dragoness. She looked to her husband but he just shrugged and nodded his head "okay then" she said agreeing.

"Yes!" Ember hissed with closed jaws.

"I'll come as well" Spyro said.

Ember took the initiative in heading out while Spyro and the three dragonflies went after her and quickly caught up.

As they caught up Nina and Flash floated from Spyro's side over to Ember.

With Spyro walking next to her and the three dragonflies floating above Ember felt really accompanied.

"So how is it that you have a dragon as your son?" Ember asked to both of Spyro's parents.

"Well one day a purple egg came floating up to us" Nina said.

"Let's save it for later" Spyro said as reviving hatchling memories in public seemed a bit embarrassing.

Ember now giggled when she also saw Spyro's head turn red quickly.

Spyro just looked into the opposite direction to hide it and Ember decided not to torture him by asking questions.

Instead she talked about more frivolous things while the 5 walked out of the citadel and flew towards a place where a map was.

What place that was they didn't tell Ember and when she asked it they also didn't answer her so she would just have to find out.

* * *

Finally after a long flight they landed in front of what looked like some sort of inn.

"Polystay, everyone is welcome" The sign read.

"Is this were you stay during the tournament?" She asked the dragonflies as it seemed likely when they brought had her to an inn that accepted any creature.

"That's right, Volteer was kind enough to give us a room here" Nina said.

"He also somehow made it possible that we got the room with some of Spyro's friends" Flash said.

"Huh? Who?" Ember tried to guess who but couldn't think of someone. It would not likely be a dragon as they would not normally stay in an inn like this. Ember couldn't think of any non-dragon friends that Spyro had.

"You'll see Ember" Spyro said and Ember could see his smirk easily as he didn't really do his best to hide it.

Seeing that Spyro had a hobby in keeping her ignorant Ember just followed Spyro and his family inside.

As they walked inside Ember looked around.

The inn itself was pretty common.

The walls were made of the same dark yellow stones as the outside and also the floor was stone. In the middle was a large string of tables and chairs with a variety of sizes.

There was no curtain for the kitchen so when Ember looked in she saw that it was very large for an inn this size. That was to make sense however. For all the different kind of visitors the cooks would have a large variety of meals to cook. The inn had only 1 floor as was common in Warfang. The upper floors of the building were for different purposes. Ember spotted about 10 curtains that let to the different sleeping rooms. The inn had nothing special but it did look like it was cosy.

Ember wondered how it would be to maybe sleep here for a night.

Suddenly she spotted Spyro's tail disappearing behind one of the curtains and quickly ran after him.

When she got into the room of the dragonflies the inside was not what Ember had expected at all.

There were three large beds in the room and some closets near the wall. There was a mirror on the side and all kinds of other conveniences that looked totally useless for a dragonfly.

"What kind of room is this?" Ember asked as it clearly was not for dragonflies and not one for dragons either.

"The room of Cheetahman" Sparx joked.

"We have the room together with 3 cheetahs" Nina explained.

"They are called: Hunter, Meadow and Bianca. Apparently Hunter knows Spyro well"

"Well we went to point out our home didn't we" Sparx said before that went away.

"Oh, right" Spyro now said.

They walked to the wall and Ember spotted a large map hanging across.

The map was about 1,1 metres wide and 70 centimetres tall. Ember recognised it as a map of the dragonrealms having seen it before during a study.

Sparx floated up to it eager to show it.

"There, there, you see" He said excited almost slamming his finger on the spot.

The spot he was pointing at was lush green dot that interrupted a blue line that resembled a river. Ember spotted Warfang on the map and she was quite surprised when she saw how far it was from the green spot Sparx was banging on.

"You two really came all the way from there?" Ember asked in astonishment. She judged it already a very long journey to fly for a dragon so let alone for a tiny dragonfly.

"Yeah, I hear ya. Try making it twice" Sparx complained.

"For Spyro, no place is too remote" Nina said smiling.

Ember now laid down on the floor and folded her wings besides her body to make herself more comfortable. Spyro quickly followed her example.

"So how is a dragon living in a swamp?" Ember asked to Spyro.

Spyro took some time before he answered as there seemed to be some kind of problem "Well to be honest I always thought of myself as a-" Spyro stopped again as he just couldn't bear to finish it for reason.

"Overstuffed and overgrown dragonfly" Sparx finished for him.

"Overgrown dragonfly?" Ember clenched her jaws together and her cheeks grew into balloons. However as much as she tried, she couldn't prevent her lips from curling into a grin as she tried to fight off her laughing.

That the legendary Spyro that she had always looked up to so much was thinking that he was an overgrown dragonfly just seemed really funny.

"Hey! When you have never seen a dragon you don't know what it is" Spyro shouted although his argument sounded a bit lame.

"It doesn't matter what you are, you were and still are our son Spyro" Flash said caring helping him out of the moment.

"Are we going through this whole thing again?" Sparx complained rolling with his eyes.

After having recovered Ember asked the same question as in the citadel now that they were in private "But how did you become parents of a dragon?"

"As we said it came floating down to us" Nina also gave the exact same answer to it.

"And how did that happen?" Ember asked as it didn't make much sense.

"Well just one day an egg came floating down the river and into the swamp" Nina explained

"At first we didn't know what the round purple thing was but it quickly hatched and out of it came Spyro"

"It also hatched the same day as our own child was born" Flash added.

"So Spyro and Sparx are twin brothers" Ember concluded. Spyro and Sparx shared the same parents and were born on the same day. That was the definition of a twin in Ember's dictionary.

"Well, we, um" Spyro stammered as it took some time to sink in.

He looked to Sparx and Sparx looked back at him. Both looking to the other as if they had only just met.

"That's right Ember, I never thought of that" Spyro admitted.

"And neither did we" Nina said also looking at Ember a bit amazed.

"Well don't think that means I'm going to imitate you. I know better than that" Sparx said wryly.

"But Ember, why don't you tell us a bit more about you" Nina suggested gesturing towards the pink dragoness.

"Well I don't have much to say; I have lived in Warfang all my life" Ember said humble.

"Well what is it you do have to say?" The dragonfly insisted.

"Well I live with my mother and I am good friends with Georga and Oxidus. I also sometimes hang out with a group of friends let by Frost" Ember said as her life was very unremarkable in comparison to Spyro. Ember knew very well how exciting Spyro's life has been with all his adventures. However his childhood life in the swamp was something new for her and she wanted to hear all about it.

"So, what do you think about that speech that Terrador had just given?" Spyro asked next.

"It was very inspiring for sure" Ember said excited.

"I'm really pumped for it for my match now" Ember said her voice brimming with excitement.

"It's just too bad that my match is in the evening" Ember sighed.

"You really seem to enjoy battling very much don't you Ember" Nina observed.

"Sure do" Ember chirped with a whelpling like excitement.

Nina looked away now as the concept of battling still was hard for her to grasp.

Ember was just such a kind and sweet girl. Yet she enjoyed it to fight inside an arena against her own kind.

"But Ember, what is that technique you use during your battles?" Spyro asked intrigued "You know, the one where you make yourself so hot nobody dares to touch you?"

"Secret" Ember chirped like normal.

"Come on, at least give a name" Spyro insisted a bit annoyed.

"Oh, alright" Ember grumbled with equal annoyance.

"I have dubbed it the Thermal Coat" she announced very proud.

"Thermal Coat?" Spyro repeated confused.

"But how did a dragon and dragonfly twin live in the swamp?" Ember asked to get the topic back to Spyro's life in the swamp. She wanted to tell as little details about her thermal coat as possible.

"Well it was mostly fun but I also was bullied sometimes by the other young dragonflies" Spyro said. Forgetting about the subject they were just talking about.

"I see" Ember said as it felt like a weird idea that a dragon could be bullied by dragonflies.

"Well we had this one time when-" Spyro, Sparx and their parents now talked lively with Ember about their life in the swamp. Ember in return told them some more about the dragon city. Some things that also Spyro didn't know since he had only lived here for a couple of weeks.

Ember; being raised inside the dragon city had never been with other creatures other than some moles and cheetah's. Dragonflies were a completely knew thing to her.

Ember took in everything the dragonfly family told her very well and kept asking questions, hungry for more information.

Spyro was open about his past but made sure that he would steer the topic away if it came too close to any possibly embarrassing topics. Like his hatchling time or a couple of less fortunate adventures.

However that didn't really bother Ember as she found every single detail about how they lived in the swamp fascinating, even the parts without Spyro.

Quickly they were so absorbed into their childhood stories that the hours flew by before they knew it.


	24. not invincible?

_Author note: After a long while as well here is chapter 24. Now you are going to know a little bit more about Ember's mother. She is violent but is she really as cruel as she sometimes appears? Maybe she does love Ember after all. Also in this chapter I have tried to raise the level of the battles of the Igus cup. I hoped everything worked out as I planned._

_By the way, I am right now into a major writer's block and have yet to come out. I can't tell when chapter 25 is going to come out. I simply have no idea of how things are going to turn out for my writing._

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 24 not invincible?**

From her exclusive spot in the honour box, Georga was watching the matches unfold underneath her, one by one.

She never really paid it that much attention. She was merely waiting for the match of Oxidus to start.

"Hello again everyone" Georga turned her head and was quite surprised to see the small aqua blue figure of Frost enter the honour box again.

She was indeed surprised to see him. After the mood his father was in Georga had been sure that Frost wasn't going to leave home today at all. Let alone go to the honour box.

"Frost? What are you doing here?" she asked right away.

"Well, after dad finished his little, or rather endless tirade about how low Igüsa is and how stupid Cyril is he went to his room and has yet to come out" Frost said as he walked towards Georga.

"So, what's stopping me?" he asked smirking as he laid down and put his paws in front of him.

"Maybe, big time trouble" Georga hinted looking at him with a strongly suggestive look.

"I'm sure your dad is not in the best of moods now" Georga said her face getting fearful by just thinking about it.

However Frost didn't seem concerned.

"He's much too concerned with his own wounded pride to worry about me right now" Frost said waving his paw reassuringly.

"Well, I know that I sure wouldn't take any risks if Volt was in a bad mood" Georga said quickly shaking her head in fear at the thought.

She felt lucky that Volt wasn't here, otherwise he most definitely wouldn't have liked that.

Volt had left her for the day and he had ordered her to be home before dinner. That meant 6 o'clock as it was their usual dinner time. Georga hadn't told him anything about yet Ember's match later that evening but Volt rarely protested. Georga was convinced that he would allow her to view the match.

However, while Volt rarely stopped her from doing things, when punishments were concerned, he wasn't as soft.

"If he was scorned then I would watch my step" she said almost like a warning to Frost.

"Well, unlike you Volt is not my parent" Frost said.

"We'll I'm just saying that I wouldn't take that risk"

"Don't worry" Frost waved his paw again like nothing was the matter.

Georga just forgot about it and turned her eyes back to the arena as a match started that she didn't want to miss.

"And now Volcano Master Oxidus faces Smouldering Soldier Feusus" Cyril shouted.

Georga locked her eyes on the arena as the gates opened.

She looked at Feusus and now also recognised him.

"Hey, isn't that dragon the one that defeated Igüsa?" Frost asked her.

"That's right" Georga nodded.

"Let's see if her brother can do better" Frost said.

"I'm sure he can beat him" Georga said mostly to herself and Frost also didn't say anything more.

Oxidus also walked into the arena.

He looked cold, calculative, ruthless and ready for battle. Like always.

The two fire dragons walked to the middle of the arena and Fuesus lowered down his tail to get to Oxidus' smaller height.

Oxidus slammed his hooked tail against it. The barbs made a few scratches but that didn't hurt Fuesus.

As Fuesus turned Georga thought she spotted a hint of fear in his eyes. It was faint and might just be her imagination but it seemed to be there. Not that it was strange. Oxidus was extremely powerful, Fuesus knew that.

The two fire dragons walked back to their original position and cringed down, waiting for the starting sign.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Cyril announced.

* * *

Oxidus right away used a lightning fast comet dash and reached Fuesus had even seen him.

Fueses just managed to brace himself for it but Oxidus was way too powerful and knocked him off his feet. Like the massive fire dragon was feather light he rammed him up in the air and crashed him into the wall.

Using his own momentum Oxidus got upwards by shifting his bodyweight and made further speed using his wings.

He shot upwards, the fire not dissipating and grabbed the neck with all four.

He put his tail hook at Fuesus' throat and made his win.

* * *

"The winner is Volcano Master Oxidus" Cyril announced.

These things were starting to get so characteristic of him. Winning in mere seconds.

He was having no challenge in beating any of his opponents. He was fighting flawlessly.

A perfect machine of battle. No emotions to interfere or chance. Just pure battling.

Georga hated it. It was just so unlike him.

She doubted Oxidus even cared about the battles. He fought without having any passion or fun.

It just was just… wrong.

Georga had not forgotten about her promise so she walked out of the honour box to speak with him.

She just was casually as she didn't really feel like she was in any sort of hurry.

The only reason she kept up a decent pace was because she didn't want to miss him.

The citadel was quite packed as it was rush hour but with the start of the victory tournament it wasn't as crowded as it once was.

Now that there were less dragons participating, there were also less friends and family watching.

Because there were less dragons participating there also were less friends and family watching.

Georga now spotted Oxidus already walking out and sped up her pace to catch up.

"Hey Oxidus!" she yelled to get his attention.

Oxidus stopped and after crawling underneath a large ice dragon Georga caught up to him.

As she looked him in the eye Georga quickly thought of something to say.

"Well, another win eh?" she said shrugging. She didn't really have much to say on it.

The battle was short and decisive and Oxidus was cold, strong and calculative. Everything was exactly like it was during all the matches in the preliminary rounds.

"Yes" Oxidus said and he turned to walk out and get back home. Not spirited, not even a little excited, nothing.

Georga hated the sight but found no reason to stop him and just watched him go and fly away.

"Oh, Oxidus" Georga muttered to herself.

She just so would love it to see the true him battle again. Even just one time only would be enough for her.

Just for one more time she wanted to see her best friend, at the moments where he shone the brightest. To see his fiery passion, to see him battle it out until exhaustion. To see his heart filled with passion, excitement and most of all; fun.

To see the fun that Oxidus always had. The passion for battling that was unique only to him.

She wanted to see that burning fire in his large bright eyes again. Those beautiful orange circles. It was like they were truly aflame. She would be so happy to see the real Oxidus again.

But, what she now saw was-

A shell, that's the closest thing she could describe it to. A shell of a dragon. Just bones, flesh and scales, nothing more.

Realising that she was pondering Georga got moving again back to the honour box.

As she walked back she kept thinking about her cold hearted friend.

"Just what kind of dragon are you Oxidus?" Georga thought as she walked aimlessly through the crowd. "What could I ha-"

"No! No! No! Get that out of your head Georga!" Georga said sharply to herself, shaking her head wildly.

She had promised her friends she wouldn't despair. Her common sense also knew it was pointless. Beating herself up over it wasn't going to help him.

She had proved that. She had to keep hope, for him.

As Georga walked into the honour box she rejoined Frost again.

"So, what did he say?" Frost asked.

"Not much" Georga sighed.

Frost still looked a bit intrigued but didn't ask anything further. He saw it was painful on her.

"So have you already picked a favourite?" he asked instead.

"Huh? Favourite?" Georga asked a bit clueless.

"You know, who do you think will win the cup?" Frost cleared up.

"I still believe Oxidus will win" Georga said with a rather sad voice.

"Yeah, he is still unchallenged" Frost nodded "No one seems to be able to match him. Oxidus sure is very powerful" Frost praised.

"He sure is" Georga nodded a bit sad.

Frost was right. Oxidus was one of the most powerful fire dragons. Georga already knew that he wasn't going to be kicked out of the tournament anytime soon.

Yet the way that he fought.

"I'm just so anxious to the day Oxidus finally finds himself a rival" Frost said still excited.

"A rival?"

"Yeah, you know. Someone who can match his power and push him to his limits. That would sure be one of the greatest matches ever"

"Yeah" Georga nodded, half smiling.

It indeed would be incredible to see Oxidus and another dragon push each other to their limits. No special rules or advantages to bind Oxidus. An opponent who could face him at his best.

"I'm sure that one day Oxidus will find a rival" Frost said almost like he was a guardian.

"You're right Frost" Georga nodded.

Now having a little more hope Georga turned her eyes to the matches again.

After some time Cynder also arrived again having to do a few things for the guardians.

Georga and Cynder discussed a few things about Oxidus but nothing really important.

Then Cynder asked her something "Hey, when are Spyro and Ember going to come back anyway?"

"Well-" They had already been away for a long time.

Georga didn't really know how long but Oxidus' match was already over so they must already be away for hours for certain.

"I think that I'm going to go and pick her up" Georga said and got up.

She turned her eyes towards her black companion "You know where she is?" she asked Cynder.

"Well, my guess is at the inn Spyro's parents stay" Cynder answered.

Cynder closed her eyes like she was thinking hard "Off the top of my head it was called Polystay" she said a bit uncertain.

"Thanks" Georga nodded. The inn called Polystay was in the same neighbourhood as her house was. Georga knew the place.

As Georga walked out of the honour box she checked the time on the clock.

She was partially shocked when she saw it was already 14:30.

Checking the time-tables again just to be certain Georga spotted indeed what she thought.

"That Ember has some nerve" Georga thought a bit angry as she walked out of the citadel.

When she was outside Georga spread her wings and flew into the sky.

Ember had missed the match of Oxidus and was about to miss the match of her mother as well.

"Not if I have anything to say about it" Georga thought.

* * *

Meanwhile Spyro and his family were engaged into a lively talk together with Ember about their life in the swamp.

They talked about a whole lot of different things, however Spyro's favourite topics by far were those that in one way or another turned out embarrassing for Sparx.

"You see and then Sparx got stuck into that frogweed then I-"

"I hope you are having a good time" Their conversation suddenly came to a halt as a dry and humourless voice interrupted them.

Ember turned around to see who it was and was a bit surprised to see Georga standing in the room.

However even more surprised she was at the deep frown on her face and the sharp look in her eyes.

"What is it?" Ember asked trying to quickly think of something that could have off-set Georga.

"Well I don't know if you knew it Ember-!" Georga said a bit angrily raising both her eyebrow and voice.

"But your mother's battle is coming up soon" She finished after a five second wait.

Ember gasped in surprise "What? It is that late?" she exclaimed, unbelieving.

"Yes, at least view the matches of your family if you're not interested in your friends" Georga snapped to her.

"Of course" Ember said quickly, bowing to Georga for some reason.

She quickly bowed her head back up and raced out of the room.

However just as she passed Georga and was about to go through the curtain she stopped to look back at the dragonflies.

"We'll follow you" Nina assured her before she had even asked it.

"Goodbye" Ember bowed again before quickly continuing her way out of the room.

When she was outside Ember flapped her wings a couple of times and took off while still running.

Georga hadn't really told her how late it was exactly but Ember flew as fast as she could.

Maybe the match of her mother was already underway.

* * *

When she had reached the citadel Ember had to stop for a moment to catch her breath but quickly pulled herself together. As fast as she could she sprinted through the citadel and to the young dragon stands.

She ran through the maze of corridors and reached the front of the honour box where the young dragons sat.

She quickly set down and gasped, trying to regain her breath.

After a second she turned her eyes to the match that was unfolding. Hoping it was her mother.

It was a battle between a male and a female but Ember could quickly see that the female wasn't her mother.

She didn't know if the match was already over or was yet to start so she decided to wait and just hope for the latter.

"Ember? What are you doing here? I thought you got yourself a spot up there?" A female voice said next to her.

Ember turned and saw that Inge was sitting next to her with Flannery sitting one seat further.

"Well, yes I did" Ember said a bit embarrassed. In her rush she had totally forgotten about it.

However she didn't bother getting up again, she had a pretty good view from here as well.

"So, ready for our fight?" Inge asked her.

"Of course Inge, you know I am always ready" Ember said sneering doing her best to give Inge her best evil face without her thermal coat.

However that didn't seem to intimidate the dragoness at all "Well let's see about that in the arena" Inge said confidently shooting back the same curved evil face.

This intrigued Ember, maybe Inge had something planned.

"Yeah, Inge is going to whip your tail big time in the arena this time around" Flannery said chuckling loud enough for Ember to hear.

"Not a chance there!" Ember warned her.

She shifted her view back to Inge again. Inge was smiling and still kept a sort of wicked grin on her face. She sure looked confident.

However Ember wasn't worried.

Inge wasn't all that strong. Ember had beaten her once and she could beat her again.

"And now, the Infernal Diva Wilmfe will face the Lava Hammer Therofous" Terrador announced his low voice booming through the stadium.

Ember quickly turned her attention back to the arena below. She hadn't yet missed her mother's fight.

The iron gate creaked opened and revealed Wilmfe walking into the arena with the same confided look on her face that Ember was used of her.

Her mother was a strong battler and an excellent warrior. She was confident in her abilities, but not cocky. Ember really admired that of her and tried to be just like her. However sometimes she could still catch herself on being cocky about her abilities, there was still a lot she could learn from her mother.

Her mother's opponent looked also impressive.

Therofous was a large fire dragon who looked very robust.

It was no wonder that he had reached the victory tournament as he looked very tough. Even for a powerful dragon like her mother, this wouldn't be easy.

This was made even more notable when they clashed tails. Her mother only came to Therofous' shoulders. She also was much thinner and fragile.

The two nudged and walked back again.

When her mother's got into her battle position Ember's heart rate shot up. This was going to be good.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Terrador shouted.

* * *

Wilmfe quickly used a comet dash and as a fiery bullet she raced towards the much larger fire dragon.

Strangely enough Therofous made no move to dodge the attack.

Instead he dug all his claws deep into the earth and bent down, stabilizing himself firmly to take on the attack.

Wilmfe crashed full force into him and a pressure wave swooped across the arena from the impact.

Therofous however was forced back but less than a metre. His posture barely chanced at all.

The second after her mother hit him, he bit in her wing and purposely fell over forwards. Taking Wilmfe with him and forcing her to lie down on her back.

Wilmfe tried to resist but that was futile. She only had her hind legs on the ground and they were much too weak to stand against the weight of such a massive dragon.

When the two crashed into the ground Therofous immediately grappled her limps to keep her pinned down.

She kept scratching and squirming but she seemed nowhere near breaking out from under him.

Seeing that he was her superior in weight Therofous moved his bodyweight forwards and laid down on her chest.

Wimfe's face creased from pain and she wheezed as almost twice her own weight was placed on her.

She kept squirming to keep him from making a win. Wilmfe was a strong fighter but it seemed she just lacked the brute strength that she needed to beat him.

Therofous now had all his paws free because just his body weight was paralyzing Wilmfe.

He grabbled her struggling limps and moved closer to her neck with his jaws. Wilmfe was trapped, her body squashed by the enormous weight of the dragon laying on top of her and all her limps held down. She was powerless from her position on her back, pinned down by the huge fire dragon.

However Wilmfe still wasn't out of tricks just yet.

She bend her head upwards and bit Therofous in his sensitive nose.

Therofous howled in pain and jerked back up.

Thinking fast Wilmfe rammed him in the chest with her horns and with Therofous confused she managed to get him off.

As fast as lightning Wilmfe shot out from underneath and regained her posture.

Wilmfe panted as the crushing weight on her was finally gone.

Therofous now seemed to recover from the bite but he was only suppressing the pain and staggered a bit.

With high speed Wilmfe ran up to him while he was still down.

She spun around like a top and smashed her large tailblade hard into his soft chest.

Therofous coughed but just like last time he seemed just too big and too heavy for Wilmfe to do any serious damage on him to win.

He counterattacked and swiped his tail hard towards Wilmfe. But this time Wilmfe was one step ahead of him.

She chanced her spin into a full pirouette and with a flap of her wing she moved backwards.

She dodged Therofous' attack just narrowly and landed on all four. Right away she countered with a comet dash, heading fast for the massive fire dragon.

However again just like before Therofous dug his claws in and waited for it. Trying to get her close to him so he can grab her again. This time however, he made a crucial mistake.

Just a he was about to grab her Wilmfe suddenly spun her bodyweight around and her dash stopped for second.

Therofous swiped out but missed her body.

Just as Therofous' paw flew past her Wilmfe lashed out with her tail and knocked out Therofous' feet from underneath him.

Keeping the momentum going she contracted her hind legs and jumped forwards, paws forward.

She grabbed his body with all four paws. It didn't look very graceful seeing her hang on to him like that but Wilmfe wasn't about grace.

She quickly put her jaws on his throat and locked it in place.

Therofous was still busy regaining his balance and that gave Wilmfe the tiny opportunity she needed to make her win.

* * *

"The winner is the Infernal Diva Wilmfe!" Terrador shouted.

"Mom" Ember felt really proud on that her mother had won. She never knew Wilmfe could be so fast and agile.

The battle was awesome except for the one detail that her mother had bitten Therofous in the nose.

It wasn't an illegal move but it seemed like a rather dirty way of fighting to Ember.

"So, like mother unlike daughter" Flannery sneered.

Inge growled and poked Flannery, indicating that she shouldn't have said that.

Ember just ignored them and got up now to congratulate her mother.

She walked towards the participants entrance and waited for her mother there.

After a minute her mother appeared and because it the citadel wasn't so crowded anymore she spotted Ember right away. With her one of a kind bright pink scales Ember was easy to spot.

"You did good mom" Ember said although it sounded a bit empty.

"Well, when sometimes you have to put clean fighting on hold Ember" Her mother said a bit stern. She was Ember's mother, Ember's response told her everything she needed to know.

Ember let it sink in. The situation was indeed quite desperate, if she was in that situation Ember also couldn't think of any other way out. Now that she thought of it her thermal coat wasn't really all that clean either.

"You're right mom, you won the match fair" Ember nodded forcing back a little bit of her excitement.

Her mother gave a toothy grin. Her demonic appearance made it look very frightening and Ember's blood dropped a few degrees from it.

Just then Ember heard a very embarrassing sound causing her cheeks to flush red.

It was the low rumbling of an empty stomach and it was hers.

Her mother laughed from it as the topic was of so high morale just know.

"Why don't we go home and get something to eat?" She suggested.

Ember couldn't help but smile as well "Maybe we could also go to the kitchen here and order something" She suggested carefully.

"Okay, we will" Her mother said as she walked to the kitchen together with her daughter.

Ember was indeed hungry but Wilmfe never rushed anything. She always walked calmly so Ember had to walk as well.

Being smacked to the floor wasn't really all that much fun.

When they arrived at the kitchen it was quite busy but they found a place to eat.

Wilmfe ordered two sheep for both of them.

Because of the amount of cooks the meals arrived quickly and the two fire dragonesses enjoyed their lunch.

They talked about Wilmfe's battle just now and Ember's coming battle this evening.

"How did you do that mom?" Ember asked amazed "That in the end, that win?"

"Well, I just knew that he would try to swipe at me so I figured that might distract him for long enough to allow me to win after a stun him" her mother explained.

Ember didn't understand it but she had to eat up her piece of meat before she could talk again to ask "But how did you know he was going to do that?"

Wilmfe also took some time to reply because she swallowed a bite now herself "He didn't come me of as very intelligent so I guessed that if I pretended to use the same move I used before he would use the same counter. Always know how your opponent will respond" Wilmfe said.

Ember now told her about her coming match with Inge and when she was finished her mother retreated her snout from her food and took a breath like she was going to say something important.

"What do you think about it?" her mother asked with a very serious voice, looking at Ember intensely.

Ember gulped from it but stayed strong "Huh? I don't know, I guess it is just bluff" she replied.

"Are you sure?" her mother asked her voice more sceptical then ever.

"Every battle style has it's weaknesses Ember" she said.

"But my thermal coat has no weaknesses" Ember repelled.

Her mother let out a deep sigh "How naive" she said shaking her head.

Wilmfe turned her head away and wouldn't hear anymore of it.

Ember thought about it while she ate her sheep.

Did her style have weaknesses? Could Inge maybe have some sort of a counter against it?

No! Her thermal coat was mastered perfectly. Inge was just bluffing.

"Maybe she had spend a bit too much time hanging around with Flannery" Ember thought grinning.

When they had eaten their meal her mother got home and partially forced Ember to come along as well.

She couldn't go against her so she followed her mother back home and she knew that she would stay there until her match was.

When they arrived home Ember got training in the garden right away. She didn't have anything better to do. Also what her mother had said about the possible weaknesses in her special ability made her fearful and she wanted to take every precaution she could to ensure she would win.

She was busy with practicing when to her surprise her mother walked into the garden.

"Let's say we have a practice round now Ember" Her mother said as she bend down into her battle position without waiting for a reply.

Ember wondered if it was because of the talk at lunch or not but that actually wasn't really important.

"Okay mom, let's do it" She said and bend down now herself.

Her mother knew her better than anyone so if she wanted someone to help her find own weakness, her mother would be the perfect candidate.

She lightly activated her thermal coat so that her mother would feel it but she wouldn't feel real pain.

Taking the initiative Ember raced towards her mother and when she was close enough jumped up to burn her.

Wilmfe moved sideways to dodge it with the greatest of ease and as Ember flew past her she swiped her daughter away with the side of her claw.

Ember rolled along the ground a few metres before coming to a stop. She was not hurt or anything but that just didn't feel pleasant. Wilmfe hadn't felt any heat because the claws of a dragon don't contain any nerves sensors.

"That won't do Ember, that was way too slow" Her mother said mostly as an instruction.

"If that was too slow than this could be a problem" Ember thought. With her thermal coat low her mind wasn't effected by it very much.

She tried again to burn her mother but time after time Ember missed and got another swipe.

After about an hour of practicing Ember's body was riddled with scratches from constantly rolling on the ground and getting knocked around by her mother.

"I think that is enough for today Ember" her mother said a bit degrading when she swiped Ember away again.

As Ember climbed to her feet she was shocked by her poor performance. She hadn't even managed to hit her mother a single time! Not even once! Maybe she did still have a lot to learn before she could win the cup.

Her mother left her without saying anything.

Feeling now additionally motivated Ember spend the remainder of the afternoon coming up with new battle moves. She also tried to improve her speed as that seemed to be her weakness.

She kept the energy of her attacks low to save power so that she would be able to battle in the evening. Her training stopped when her mother called her for dinner.

It was a small dinner because they had already eaten in the citadel. It was just half a deer for the both of them. Like normal they didn't talk that much unless they had something to discuss.

After the dinner was gone Ember looked at the clock and saw that it was already time to head to her match.

"Mom, I'm going to the match okay" She asked.

"Okay, I will come along with you" Her mother said as she got up from the floor.

"You will?" Ember thought out loud in surprise.

Her mother didn't reply and walked out.

"Thanks mom" Ember said warmly as she quickly rushed to fly out together.

Her mother took off without saying something and Ember went along.

As they headed towards the citadel her mother still didn't say much. However Ember was very glad that her mother just volunteered to escort her so that didn't bother her.

They landed near the citadel and went inside, Ember never leaving her mother's side. She was feeling a bit nervous for some reason, plus she didn't like the crowd so she stayed close.

"So have you've been able to improve?" Her mother asked.

Ember sighed and shook her head.

Her mother didn't say anything as they entered the crowd.

The two walked towards the entrance and then Ember broke free from her mom and went into the entrance.

"Good luck" her mother said.

"I won't need it" Ember sneered as she suspected her mother wanted to hear that from her.

But her mother snorted and walked away.

Ember was curious about that but she shifted quickly her mind to other business.

She had to because now her battle with Inge was coming and she needed to be focused on that.

She reached the iron gate and like last time patiently waited.

She expected the verification question but she it didn't come.

She looked at the sentry and saw that it was the same one as three days back. He knew who she was so he didn't bother asking it.

Despite her newfound weakness Ember still believed she could beat Inge. Inge wasn't an adult like her mom was and she was not as powerful like Oxidus and Flame were.

"I will burn her and win" Ember thought as she waited for her chance to go and put it in action.

She had defeated Inge before so why should this time be any different?

Ember heard Cyril announce her and she raced into the arena full of excitement.

The crowd now didn't bother her as much as it once did since she had experienced it many times before.

Ember turned her eyes towards her opponent.

Inge was looking confident and strong just like last time, but what caught Ember's eye was that she had a sly grin on her face indicating that she might have something up her wing.

The two dragonesses walked towards each other and clashed tails.

"Ready to burn again?" Ember asked her friend.

"Not this time Ember" Inge replied sneering.

They nudged and returned to their positions.

Ember now activated her thermal coat and she could feel her mind drifting away into the intense heat of her body.

Her doubts quickly vanished as the heat took over her brain. She was now ready for battle.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Cyril shouted.

* * *

Ember stood idle and waited for Inge to make a move.

However this time Inge just stayed where she was and seemed to be focusing on something.

The two kept staring until Ember was out of patience.

"If she won't take me then I will take myself to her" Ember thought sadistically and she ran up to her friend to try and burn her scales off.

However still having a confident grin Inge swung around and unleashed a fire whip from her mouth that struck Ember on the side and knocked her off balance.

Ember grunted as she got to her feet again. The blow was not all that hard and her thermal coat protected her from the fire but it still was a hit on her.

Ember's problem was that her movements were slow and predictable because she needed to focus to keep inner fire under control.

"Is that all you got?" Inge said using an imitated version of the evil voice Ember used.

Ember snarled viciously at her but Inge didn't seem impressed.

She glared at her and stuck out her tongue "Want to get me again you pink bag of hot coal?" She teased.

"I will burn you to cinders" Ember spat feeling enraged at being taunted.

"I would like you see and try" Inge mocked never dropping her cocky attitude.

Ember walked up to her again but Inge spun around using her tail as a top. She somehow kept hold of the fire and it whipped Ember away now with quite an amount of force.

Ember flew into the wall and fell coughing on the floor.

"Looks like you're not invincible after all are you my princess" Inge said.

"Queen!" Ember corrected.

"More like concubine" Inge chuckled.

Ember's rage flared up to boiling point but using her will she forced it down to analyze the situation.

She was itching to make some big burns on Inge but that just wasn't possible, Inge wouldn't let her.

Seeing that getting close was impossible Ember reconsidered her options.

Inge, confident of her victory, made a huge mistake by not attacking right away. This gave Ember the time she needed to think up another battle plan.

Suddenly an idea occurred to Ember at what might be a weakness in Inge's fire whip. Her mother had said that every style had it's weaknesses.

But the plan was a risky one. This was the victory tournament so there were no second chances. She needed to put it to the test first.

She ran towards Inge again seeing if it was true.

Like last time Inge spun around and whipped Ember away, Ember looked very closely to the whip and was hit full in the face because she wasn't paying attention to how to defend herself from it but only how the whip moved and Inge was controlling it.

"I know all about your special powers Ember, that's why I made this attack" Inge said as she had whipped Ember away three times now.

"If you can't get close then you are doomed" She said.

"You don't know as much about my powers as you think Inge" Ember shot back grinning.

"What?"

Ember now deactivated her secret weapon and let the energy back inside her body.

The slight red light disappeared and Ember was no longer the burn queen.

"What are you doing?" Inge shouted in disbelief.

"Winning" Ember now sounded more kindly as the heat was off.

Ember now sprinted towards Inge, her specialty off.

Inge was still very surprised but she spun around and used her fire whip again to try and keep Ember away from her.

However this time didn't play out for her. Just as the fire whip was about to hit Ember she jumped and dodged it.

When she was at close range Ember used a comet dash and because she was spinning like a top Inge couldn't do a single thing to defend herself from Ember.

Ember hit her in the chest and she was slammed into the opposite wall.

Inge wheezed as she was crushed by Ember despite that Ember was slightly smaller. Ember was a strong fire dragon. Even without her thermal coat she was still a force to be reckoned with.

Ember wrestled with Inge and tried to grapple her and make a win.

Inge however was not out of the battle just yet.

She rolled over underneath Ember to get lose and bit her in the shoulder.

Ember cringed in and using her powerful tail Inge managed to throw her away.

Inge was physically stronger than Ember was but still Ember seemed more powerful.

This time not giving her the time to recover Inge breathed a stream of fire at Ember as she threw her away.

Ember however spotted it and rolled to the side what caused the attack to miss.

"Ember is fast" Inge thought as she had never knew that Ember could move so swiftly.

Using her superior speed, Ember rolled the entire way around Inge until she was aligned with her flank. Then she stopped and shot a high speed concentrated fire stream at her.

Inge tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough. She was blasted away and into the wall again.

Inge jumped back up and shot a fire attack of her own towards Ember.

Ember spotted the attack and countered it right away with a fire breath of her own.

The two attacks clashed and both dragonesses dug their claws into the ground while they increased power.

But as much as Inge tried to push back Ember's attack, she was simply too powerful for her. Inge couldn't keep the clashing point away from her and was engulfed in flames, pinned down against the wall by the sheer of the attack.

When Ember had stopped Inge knew that her body was quickly losing power from the heavy blows. If she still wanted to win then she had to do something and fast.

She used her fire whip again and this time she swirled it around in circles so that Ember would be hit for sure.

However Ember gracefully jumped and twirled past the flames without any hits and when she had again reached Inge she gave a heave with her head.

Her horns rammed Inge on her jaw and threw her up into the air. Ember right away flapped her wings and jumped after her.

She put her paws around the midsection of the dazed fire dragon and intertwined their tails.

She laid her body the right away and while still in the air she moved her head upwards.

A second later they both crashed into the ground. Ember on top of Inge, crushing her.

Ember made the extra few centimetres and now had her jaws around Inge's throat. Winning the match.

* * *

"The winner is Queen of Burns Ember!" Cyril shouted.

Ember immediately released Inge and took a few steps back from her.

She offered her paw and stretched it out in front of Inge.

Inge looked up a bit disappointed but by seeing Ember's warm smile she grabbed her paw and raised herself to her feet.

Ember wanted to talk but she knew that wasn't expected. So after she had helped Inge back to her feet she turned around and walked out of the arena.

"Well mom was right. I can't rely solely on my secret weapon" Ember thought.

She might have won this match because she was more powerful but sheer power was not the way Ember could win.

Inge was tough but not as strong as some other opponents.

"What am I going to do about Flame, or Oxidus if they find a counter for me as well?" Ember pondered. Ember knew she was strong but Flame and Oxidus had way more power than she did.

Ember kept thinking about it while she walked through the room.

"Ember" Ember looked up and spotted her mother waiting for her.

"So did I do good?" Ember asked.

"You did" Wilmfe said simply. Her voice not betraying any emotion.

"Let's go home now" her mother said as she turned away.

"Um, mom, can I go and talk to Inge? I still have some things I would like to say to her?" She asked a bit uncertain.

"Be back before eight o'clock" Her mother ordered.

"8 o'clock" Ember repeated. The time firmly planted.

When given a curfew Ember knew that a spanking was the thing for failing to meet it.

Her mother nodded and walked away.

Ember watched her walk out of the citadel and fly back home.

After her mother was gone Ember walked towards the opposite side of the stadium to meet up with Inge.

It was a long walk as the arena was huge.

Ember's legs were a bit wobbly because she was very tired and her body was aching.

That battle had really taken it out of her so walking around looking for Inge wasn't much fun.

She hoped to find Inge quickly as Ember really longed for her soft comfy bed back home.

After walking all the way around the stadium and still not finding Inge anywhere Ember just assumed that she had gotten home already.

Feeling very tired herself she walked out of the stadium and spread her wings. She flew back home and walked into her house using the backdoor.

Just as she entered she spotted her mother at the reading table.

"Back already?" She asked. Wilmfe didn't even look up.

"I couldn't find her" Ember replied.

"I'm just going to talk about it tomorrow, I'm sure that I will walk into her somewhere" Ember said.

"You do as you please" Her mother said.

Seeing as her mother had been content of her Ember decided to try and talk about it.

"Hey mom?" She asked.

"Yes?"

"What kind of strategy should I use when my secret weapon doesn't work?" She asked. "I won today because I have more power than Inge has but I know dragons who have far than I will ever have"

"Ember-" Her mother put down her book and shook her head. "A true warrior finds that out for herself" Her mother lectured. "You never ask someone to do your strategy for you. Then you might as well ask me to fight your battles for you. When one has reached the top it must be because of his or hers own hard work and efforts. Not from the help of someone else"

"You're right mom, I will find a way to beat them" Ember said determined "And I will find that way on my own and in my own way"

"Good Ember" Her mother turned back to her book.

Ember walked towards the garden to practise somewhat but her mother stopped her.

"I don't want you to be outside at this hour" she said a bit stern.

Ember let out a sigh but didn't protest and now went to her room instead.

She puffed down on the bed and began thinking about her battle style.

"What could I do? Maybe I could use my speed?"

"No! No!" That won't do, what is my edge over them?"

Ember kept pondering about it but then her eye fell on her vibrator crystal on her toys shelf.

"Ah, that can wait" Ember thought.. Her mother wouldn't allow her to train at this hour. she had also seen and heard enough today about powers and wanted to do something else for a chance.

She picked up the toy from the shelf and put it in her mouth.

She forced her controlled fire into it and right away the thing started shaking violently.

She kept charging it up further and further until it jumped out of her mouth and started to shake so much that it was moving all around her room.

Ember was not going to let it get away and jumped after it.

The diamond shaped crystal made all kinds of random movements so it sprang to the right just when Ember closed her paws to grab it.

Ember then jumped at it again and this time she caught it.

However she couldn't hold the struggling crystal for long and it jumped out of her paws while still dancing around the room.

Ember kept trying to catch her toy and quickly forgot about the worry she had about her power.

* * *

"Come here you" She snarled as she just couldn't get a hold of it.

"Ember, bed-time" She suddenly heard her mother say.

"Can't I play some more?" Ember protested as she was really into it now.

"Ember" Her mother said stern

Ember gulped and quickly put her toy back on her shelf without any further words.

"Good night mom" She said.

"Good night Ember" her mom replied as she walked out of the room.

Ember now could really feel her tiredness. The game had filled her with excitement but now that it disappeared it seemed her body was completely empty.

She now almost stumbled to her bed and puffed down.

Despite that she feared about the limit of her power she happily closed her eyes.

"Meeting Spyro's parents was nice and getting that seat was even better. That battle may not have been pretty but I won it nonetheless" She thought as today had been a very good day.

Ember so very tired so she didn't even get the chance to fully recall the day before she drifted off to sleep. In a more comfortable spot this time.


	25. playing with Ember

Author note:

The young dragons are having fun with the tournament and with each other. Time for some bonding of friends and some fun.

Here is at long last chapter 25. I know it took me like forever but as you know I have had a some problems at the moment with motivation and with my school being over. Well this chapter is another filler but I really like the playing scene. This chapter is split up, I'm going to tell you now that every chapter without exception is going to be split up. Some in even more than 2 parts. However this is the last filler chapter, things are going to accelarate.

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 25 playing with Ember**

"No! I can't do that!"

"But why can't you?"

"Sorry, I just can't."

"But why? It isn't such a big request"

"I just can't alright! Stop asking it!"

"Don't you trust me? Is that it?"

"No, I do trust you but this is just too dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"Please, just go and forget you ever knew about it."

"I beg you not to get involved with this."

* * *

Cynder opened her eyes now as she woke up from another voice dream.

"Well this one made even less sense than that one I had yesterday." Cynder thought a bit dry. By now she was neither frustrated nor confused by it anymore.

The constant vague voice dreams were all starting to become part of her daily routine.

For whatever reason, Cynder could recall every last one of them perfectly. That part was what did still annoy her about the voice dreams. She knew them all but didn't understand a thing about what any of them meant.

She didn't even bother asking herself the questions anymore because she never had answers to the reason or origin of them.

"I think this one makes about 12 voice dreams up until now." she concluded after counting them in her head.

She then shook her head to try and get the thoughts out. As soon as she turned her head around she spotted the large purple form of Spyro lying next from her, his large body slowly moving up and down from his breathing.

In order to get the voice dreams out of her head she brought her herself closer to him and draped her wing over his body. Then, she positioned her head underneath his and laid her tail blade also on his. Immediately it felt like her thoughts were drained away and she now felt at peace again.

As long as she had Spyro to cuddle up to she would be fine. With him next to her she could handle anything that ever might come her way.

She kept cuddled up to him for about half an hour. Cynder actually wanted to get even closer to him but she didn't as she knew that Spyro would freak out if she did.

As Cynder lie there in her half asleep state she thought she felt Spyro's body move. It indeed seemed like it moved as she could no longer feel the warm energy from his body.

She opened her eyes and saw that Spyro had woken up and moved away from her again, just like he always did.

She had done it so often now it had become a casual thing but she would just like it so much if he didn't reject it every time. She would love it to wake up together with him. To be together with her love but knew she just had to wait.

Spyro now stood up and stretched out like a feline. Cynder kept watching him intensely, deeply interested in watching his strong body move.

When Spyro had popped his joints his eyes met hers. He had looked a bit mad at her but Cynder didn't feel even the slightest bit intimidated by the purple dragon.

"Why do you insist on doing that every time Cynder?" He asked annoyed.

"Oh, no reason." Cynder shrugged, smiling innocently at his failed attempt to look intimidating.

"Then stop doing it already!" Spyro said aggravated.

Cynder couldn't help but giggle at his reaction.

Spyro always panicked whenever she did that. She would like him to accept it more but that Spyro flipped like that every time also had something amusing to it.

"So what are we going to do today?" Cynder asked as she now also got up.

"Well watch the tournament some more I guess." Spyro shrugged as it was their usual day spending.

"I really would like to see how Ember does in her next battle." Spyro said.

To Cynder this was no surprise; Spyro had never missed a match of Ember.

"However you didn't seem to be that interested in Oxidus." Cynder said a bit accusing as he had missed that one yesterday.

"With Oxidus you know he will win so that's boring." Spyro said as an excuse.

"Yeah, who's interested in that down drake anyway." Sparx said, now fully awake as well.

Cynder wanted to say something back but she didn't, it probably wouldn't do her much good and she was not really in the mood to start a discussion with Sparx.

She just shrugged and walked down towards the kitchen together with Spyro.

With the tournament in full swing they also ate rather early in the morning. The two were still heroes after all and they don't really enjoy eating while over 100 eyes are watching them.

The two dragons continued to talk about the tournament as they walked towards the counter and placed their meals.

Spyro ordered a boar and Cynder ordered a sheep. Because of the large number of cooks, the two dragons didn't return to their table but just waited for their meals to arrive.

Because of the large number of cooks it took them very little time to prepare the two animals, and having received their meals, the two dragons walked towards their usual table.

As Cynder looked around before digging in she found the kitchen look kind of empty.

There were tables and chairs everywhere but they were all empty. The two of them were sitting alone in the kitchen.

"So how do you think Ember is going to do today?" Spyro brought her attention back to him now.

"I don't know Spyro. I think she will do fine." Cynder said casually. She wasn't worried. Ember was not a dragoness who was going to lose so soon.

She was a very powerful dragoness. Cynder knew that very well. She even started to wonder now what it might be to battle against Ember herself one day.

That would surely be some battle.

"Yeah, she is creative." Spyro replied.

The two dragons continued to talk about the tournament for the remainder of their meal.

Spyro was especially interested in Ember so they mostly talked about her. Cynder did think it a little irritating to solely talk about her but also was interested in what Spyro and Ember had actually done yesterday. Spyro hadn't told her anything about it yet.

* * *

Meanwhile in the centre of the city that same dragoness had just finished her meal together with her mom.

She looked up to her as her mother just finished swallowing the last pieces from their sheep.

"Hey mom." She said.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for giving me those pointers about my battling style." She said. Ember was sure that without her mom's advice, she wouldn't have been able to defeat Inge yesterday.

"Just keep them in mind." Her mother replied, her voice not giving much emotion.

Ember didn't pursue that question as she had something else she wanted to ask.

"Mom, can I go to Georga now?" She asked. She really wanted to visit her friend again. It felt like it had been forever since she had last been there.

"No, you're going to come with me." Her mother said sternly.

Ember dropped her head a little in disappointment and instead went to the garden to train.

When she was out she practiced her fire attacks as she had learned yesterday that her thermal coat wasn't unbeatable. Inge was tough and she was just the first opponent she would have to face now.

"If I still want to win the cup then I have to get better." Ember thought determined, her body filling up with energy.

She now stopped practicing and started pondering about what she needed to do.

"Other moves…" It was obviously the solution. She doubted she could push the thermal coat any further so her new technique needed to be of a different sort.

Something new, something that her opponent wouldn't expect.

She kept thinking trying to come up with new moves but didn't really get many bright ideas.

After spending 20 minutes and coming up with zero results Ember gave up on the pondering and got training again.

She just did what she had trained before yesterday. Improving her speed and her control of the thermal coat.

It wasn't what was going to do the trick for her major opponents but any increase in strength would help.

* * *

Ember had just activated her thermal coat again when she heard a familiar sound from inside the house.

"Ember!" Her mother shouted, indicating that it was time for her to go.

Ember walked back inside the house and joined her mother's side.

"Ready?" Her mother asked, sounding more like a demand than a actual question.

"Sure." Ember nodded eccentric, she was always ready for another battle.

They walked outside and both Ember and her mother spread their wing to head for the citadel.

As they flew Ember found it far more pleasant to go together with her mother than going alone. It always felt better to fly with her. She was her mother after all.

Her mother might not say anything during the flight, but that didn't really bother her. Her mother just wasn't a very talkative person and it felt reassuring for Ember to be with her.

She flew a little bit closer to her and got just next to the underside of her belly. Why there she didn't know but she just felt like it.

When they reached the citadel her mother walked inside and Ember followed close behind.

As they walked the number of strange dragons around them increased and Ember got a little closer to her mother. Crowds just weren't really her thing.

Her mother didn't seem to notice it at first but she could feel it for certain. She didn't look at her but she pushed Ember away with her right hind paw.

"Mom?" Ember asked clueless as she wanted to stay. It was not that she couldn't handle the crowd but she just didn't like it.

"Keep to yourself!" Her mother snapped as she seemed to reject her.

Ember felt a little bit hurt by it, but pushed that thought away. After all she was no hatchling anymore.

Following her mother through the crowd at a reasonable distance this time Ember reached the time-tables and looked up to find out when her next match was going to be.

She found it quickly as she already knew where to search.

The list indicated that she was going to face a dragon named Nitro and it was already at 8:30. Her match was the first one today.

"Mom, my battle is almost up." Ember said as the clock read 8:20 "Can I go now?"

"Sure." Her mother said a bit uninterested as she looked for her own match. She didn't even turn to look at her.

Just ignoring her mother's uninterested attitude Ember walked away.

She still wanted to say 'hi' to her friends in the honour box before she went to her battle.

After forcing herself through the crowd again she looked around in the honour box to see who was already there.

Cynder was standing in the corner talking to Spyro. Above his head the three dragonflies were floating like usual. Further in the honour box were Frost and a couple of other dragons. Georga had apparently not arrived yet.

"Hallo there Ember." Nina said kindly.

"Hallo." Ember replied.

"My battle is up soon." She said mostly to everyone.

"Good luck with it then." Nina said.

"Yeah, she's going to need it with that performance yesterday." Sparx said.

This hit Ember quite hard. Did she really look that pathetic yesterday?

"Au!" Sparx cried as his dad gave him a pull on his antenna.

"You don't say things like that Sparx!" His dad said in a sharp and authoritarian voice.

Ember couldn't help but chuckled a bit. She could understand Sparx's pain.

"Well I'm off." She said "Bye."

"Bye." Most of her friends said.

Ember walked out of the honour box to get to her place for the match she suddenly stopped as she saw Georga emerging from the large crowd of dragons.

"So going to watch his match today?" Georga with a hint of annoyance as Ember was now leaving the honour box.

"I'm sorry that I missed his match yesterday Georga." Ember said knowing very well 'him' meant Oxidus.

"I was just so caught up in Spyro's stories that I just forgot."

"Yeah, well, just don't forget it again!" Georga said, her face twisting into a dark frown, while she tried to imitate the demonic glare her mother had.

However Ember found it to be a big failure. With her face all twisted up Georga looked really stupid rather than intimidating. Nobody ever could come close to the frightening leer her mother possessed.

"I have a battle now." Ember said holding back a few chuckles from Georga's failed attempt.

"Good luck then." Georga said smiling instantly dropping the act.

"I won't need that." Ember said a bit cocky tossing her head up.

"Well, do your best anyway." Georga said as she walked past her.

* * *

"Ember is sure working hard." Georga thought as Ember was already in the second match of the victory tournament.

"I hope she wins, because if she does, she'll will have deserved it." Georga thought that Ember really was an dragoness who could win it.

And not only could she win, but Ember also really wanted to win. She really wanted that match with Spyro.

As Georga tried to imagine it she didn't guess Ember acting as such a terrible guardian either. Ember was honourable, responsible and able to keep calm in almost any situation. All the characteristics that were necessary for a guardian.

Since the Igus cup began the bond between Georga and Ember had grown considerably.

Since the siege Ember had been injured during the siege. But when she had been healed she had done a great deal of voluntary work to rebuild the city. Georga was very busy with Oxidus and the death of his mother so they hadn't really spend that much time together.

"Hi Georga." Cynder said as Georga entered the box.

"Hi Cynder, Ember just went by?" She asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, she just wanted to say 'hi' to us before the battle." Spyro said.

Georga laid down near the edge of the large box like she often did to watch the matches.

"I wonder how this battle will go." Cynder said excited as she walked up to her and laid down next to her.

"Yeah, we can only guess." Georga said smiling.

Suddenly she remembered something "By the way Cynder," She said. "You were right."

"Right? About what?" Cynder asked clueless.

"Since the victory tournament has began the battles have been a lot more fun to watch." Georga said grinning.

"You're right in that, Georga." Spyro said having moved with Cynder "With every passing round they keep getting better and better" he said with almost a hatchling like excitement.

"For sure." Georga nodded in agreement.

Her attention was drawn into the arena as Terrador got into position to referee the first match.

"I hope Ember wins." Georga forced herself to think as deep inside she somewhere wanted Ember to loose.

She would not like it if she won.

Just as that thought was circling through her head Georga spotted Ember walk into the arena.

Ember looked confident, eager and strong like always so Georga shifted towards Ember's opponent.

Nitrus was a male of a medium build and with long horns. She couldn't spot anything remarkable but she knew that right now there were no weak dragons in the tournament anymore. He must be tougher than he looked.

"There are no more easy fights." She said in her head.

Ember clashed her tiny tail against the thick tail of the adult dragon and they nodded before turning their backs on each other and walking back.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Terrador shouted. While he was shouting it Georga could see Ember's body light up.

* * *

At the second the battle started Ember made the first move.

Normally she waited for her opponent to make a move but this time she took the offensive.

She ran towards her opponent to try and jump into him, then she could burn him with the high temperature of her body. Her usual tactic.

However Nitrus wouldn't let that happen braced his hind legs.

With a speed that was very impressive for a dragon his size he jumped over Ember.

As he went over her he grabbed Ember's tiny horn in his mouth and dug himself into the ground with his hind legs.

Grabbing the horns didn't seem to burn him so he could hold it without any ill effects.

Ember didn't even get a chance to see what was happening as he threw her away and she crashed hard into the wall of the arena. She wheezed as the air was forced out of her from the heavy blow.

Nitrus was not going to spoil his opportunity with her. He couldn't touch her but if he could put a claw at her throat he would still win the match nonetheless.

He used a comet dash to reach her more quickly. This was a very risky move since there was a real danger he could crash into the wall if he didn't stop in time. Ember was far too small to break the collision.

Suddenly, as if vanished by magic, he stopped and his claws went into the direction of Ember's head.

He sure was incredibly agile for a male of his size and his battle instincts also were no laughing matter. Yet Ember was not out of the fight just yet.

Ember might have taken a hard hit, but she was fully aware of what was happening and wasn't going to let it.

Just as he was about to grab her horn with his paw again she moved her hind legs backward and braced herself against the wall. Jumping forwards she clamped onto his front paw, digging her claws in to keep grip.

Nitrus screamed as his scales were burned by the extreme heat given off by the glowing pink dragoness.

Ember now let go of his paw but she wasn't finished with her assault just yet.

With a rather slow speed she jumped towards him and now grabbed his chest scales.

Because Nitrus couldn't see Ember he noticed it too late to avoid it.

He screamed out again as now his chest was being burned, this time with every bit of Ember's body and not just her chest.

Smoke started rising and sizzling sounds could be heard.

"Ember surely lives up to her name" Georga thought grimly.

Then Ember did something very unexpected.

She dug her claws into Nitrus and climbed up towards his neck. It was only a short distance for her to travel, but it was odd seeing a young dragoness climb up an adult like that.

Nitrus shook his chest violently to get her off.

Ember dug her claws deep into his neck to try and hold on, but still couldn't get sufficient grip.

After a hard swing to the right she lost her hold on him and she only just managed to avoid crashing by flapping her wings in the nick of time.

Nitrus now did another comet dash her way hoping his size would give him an edge.

However just as he came in range Ember jumped and with her tiny paws grabbed hold of his neck.

Nitrus was still engulfed in flames but Ember's thermal coat protected her from the heat.

Nitrus quickly stopped his attack as he saw what she was up to but it was too late.

Ember put her claws at his throat and at that moment she also deactivated her heat attack.

* * *

"The winner is queen of burns, Ember!" Terrador shouted.

Ember walked out of the arena, her head held high and filled of satisfaction. Although it hadn't been an easy battle she had won it.

"That was good Ember, but now what are you going to do?" Georga thought a bit fearfully.

There was still a possibility that it might be avoided so Georga hoped on that.

However the possibility seemed very remote, so it was now very likely that Ember would have to do it.

"That Ember is sure smart." Cynder said as she seemed impressed by Ember's resourcefulness.

"Yeah, she sure is." Georga said but she was worried about what Ember might think now that she had to do it.

"Something wrong?" Cynder asked as apparently her worry was noticeable in her voice.

"Haven't you guys checked out the match-ups?" Georga asked Cynder but also everyone else.

"Well, yes for today." Spyro now said.

"Yeah, same here." Cynder said.

"Well I suggest you look into the battles of tomorrow." Georga said.

"Hello." the always sweet voice of Ember announced her arrival.

"Hello Ember." Georga said as she weaved with her wing for her to join her.

Ember smiled and laid down next to her.

"How do you think it went?" Ember asked curious and still excited from the battle.

"Very good Ember. It was smart to get into his comet dash and do that." Georga said complimenting.

"Now it is just 4 battles before I get a shot at battling Spyro." Ember said highly excited.

"Why do you want to battle me anyway? Most females want Cynder." Spyro said looking at Cynder. This was true, most males seemed interested to test themselves against Spyro while most females were eager to challenge Cynder.

Ember suddenly looked nervous and quickly shifted her view back and forth from Cynder to Spyro, seemingly very unsure of what to say at this moment. Or maybe she was looking to him for support, Georga wasn't really sure.

After reading the situation Ember felt that she had no choice but to admit it.

"Well, it's just that, I've always been a large fan of you Spyro." Ember admitted shyly while her cheeks flushed red very quickly.

"Yeah who isn't?" Georga said sarcastically. Having experience with how much Spyro hated fans.

"Hey! Wait a second there pinky!" Sparx exclaimed "Is that the only reason you came to look up our birthplace?" he now asked sharply, attempting to sound intimidating but failing miserably. "Humph, should have figured" he grumbled.

"Course not!" Ember shouted defensibly "I was really interested but, I have just always liked Spyro." Ember said as she looked shyly towards Spyro, her blush intensifying even more.

"That's fine Ember." Spyro said as he walked a bit closer now.

Ember was still feeling a bit embarrassed but she forced herself not to cringe in as Spyro approached her up till just a few centimetres.

Georga was watching with joy at Ember being put through this torment. Ember had always seemed unbreakable and so strong. It felt kind of good that she finally was ripped of her high wings.

"Hey isn't Wilmfe your mother Ember?" Cynder asked a bit unfriendly what broke the moment.

"What? Well, yes, she is." Ember stammered a bit surprised by the sudden question.

"Well her battle is beginning." Cynder said, which immediately directed Ember's attention down towards the battle ground.

She looked and indeed saw the crimson red Infernal Diva walk out of the iron gates and into the arena to begin her second match of the victory tournament.

"Do you best mom." Ember encouraged silently, too embarrassed to cheer her mother on in public.

Her mother walked to the middle of the arena and there she clashed her tail with her opponent.

It was a bright orange fire dragoness who looked a lot like her. She too had long back spikes and a strong build. However with the spikes being red instead of ominous black and also having a much lighter colour overall she didn't look as infernal as Wilmfe did.

Despite that, the similarity between the two dragonesses was very striking.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Cyril shouted.

* * *

At the first second Wilmfe and Thermana used a comet dash and clashed head to head in the arena.

The blast unleashed an explosion what temporarily blocked the view from the spectators.

When the smoke cleared it revealed Wilmfe en Thermana strangled and wrestling over each other to try and pin the other down.

Wilmfe was laying on her back and Thermana was laying with her belly over her.

They both tried to grab hold of the other's paws and tail but their speed and strength was too similar.

Wilmfe and Thermana not only looked alike but they also seemed to be of equal strength. Neither one could get any visible edge over the other.

Suddenly, trying to break the tide, Wilmfe trusted her head forward and struck Thermana in her neck.

Thermana was struck by a jolt of pain which caused her to be distracted and stop resisting for a second.

Wilmfe took advantage of this one second, and using her wings to push herself up while throwing Thermana off of her.

She then instantly followed it up with a comet dash. Thermana was still a bit confused by being thrown off and spotted it too late. Wilmfe hit her full on hard in her soft belly.

Thermana wheezed but recovered very quickly. Flapped her wings sideways to make a rapid turn and attacked with a high speed fire breath to Wilmfe's flank.

Wilmfe didn't spot it as she had only just stopped her comet dash and her vision was blocked by the flames.

Wilmfe was blasted away and crashed into the ground. She quickly got up again and growled at her opponent.

Thermana also had recovered and roared back.

The two kept roaring and snarling at each other for about a minute.

Then they both veered their heads up and took a deep breath.

The dragonesses breathed a stream fire at each other.

The two attacks clashed and they both tried to force more power into it and push it away.

They were very evenly matched, so the point of connection kept steady for almost an entire minute.

However, it slowly became apparent that Wilmfe was starting to gain the upper hand as it seemed her energy supply outmatched Thermana's.

Thermana pushed her every bit of power into her attack. Feeling the power increase Wilmfe pulled out all the stops as well.

The two streams almost doubled in size and the two battlers dug their claws into the ground to keep steady against the powerful recoil.

However increasing the power was a pointless effort from Thermana as the essence of the situation hadn't chanced at all. The only thing she had achieved was that now the clash would be over sooner because they were both using up their energy supplies much faster.

Suddenly Thermana's attack stopped as she completely ran out of power.

Wilmfe's stream shot towards her and quickly enveloped her in fire.

Thermana was gasping pain and was clearly suffering from the fire, despite being a fire dragon it really seemed to cause major damage.

Wilmfe broke her attack and ran towards her, too tired to still use a comet dash.

The flames around Thermana disappeared but that didn't matter anymore. She was completely exhausted and therefore defenceless.

Wilmfe grabbed Thermana's head and put her claw at her throat.

* * *

"The winner is Infernal Diva Wilmfe!" Cyril shouted.

"Mom is so great isn't she?" Ember exclaimed, panting and all but bouncing around from excitement.

"Yeah she sure is powerful." Georga said as she knew what this meant.

It really seemed like Ember didn't know it yet. Georga wondered for a short moment if maybe she should tell her now.

"No, let's do that later." She decided as Ember wouldn't like it at all. She was now so excited and happy, it would be a real shame to break it.

Having pushed it to the back of her mind Georga looked around for something to shift her attention to.

The first thing she saw Ember walk out of the box again, most likely to talk to her mother.

"Ember." Georga muttered, almost getting a feeling of awe of her. She still couldn't believe sometimes how Ember was so strong that the spankings didn't make her afraid of her mother at all.

No matter what seemed to happen Ember didn't fear her and even searched her out for comfort when she was scared. She adored her and really seemed to look up to her mother.

That thought brought about something else in Georga.

"Oxidus, what is going on with you?" She wondered. She had promised herself not to ponder about him but preventing that was difficult.

"No, the time isn't there yet so I can't think about it!" She demanded of herself.

Georga just laid back down and watched the matches unfold beneath her.

"But, when will the time be?" She wondered a bit sadly as she forced her attention to the match. However she was barely taking in any of it.

* * *

"You were great mom!" Ember said excited to the her.

Her mother had just exited the battle arena and stood near the entrance, completely exhausted from the battle.

She was gasping deeply and it nearly took 5 seconds before she answered Ember.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy, but I did it." She wheezed as her energy levels were very low.

"I will go home now." Her mother said as she turned around to leave.

"I will be back home before dinner." Ember said as it was her usual curfew.

"Fine." Her mother almost grunted, not turning her head to look at Ember.

Ember watched her mother stumble a little as she walked towards the exit. It was clear she was exhausted.

"It was pretty intense after all." Ember thought to herself, as the battle had come down to stamina. It was no wonder that her mother was so tired.

"Now what to do?" Ember thought as she now was standing alone in the citadel. Her battle was over and those of Flame and Oxidus were still hours away.

The gang of Frost was busy with the tournament and Flame was also no option. Spyro and Cynder were absorbed in the tournament as well for that matter.

After thinking about for a few minutes she decided just to watch some random matches as well until she thought of something better.

She walked back to the honour box where she approached Spyro who was in a conversation with Cynder who lay to his left.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked as was polite.

"Sure, go ahead." Spyro said as he turned his head around to look.

Ember laid down on the right side of Spyro while Cynder still laid on the left. Georga lie next to Cynder and Frost was about a metre away.

Sparx and his parents floated above them and they waited for the next battle to begin.

"Hey Ember." Spyro asked after a while, trying to start a conversation with her now.

"Yes?"

"What do you think about-" He started.

"Playing at home with you!" Georga finished for him.

"Well actually about-" Spyro started again but Georga cut him off once more.

"That he has never been in your house before" Georga said his sentence again.

Spyro looked a bit annoyed at Georga but she shook her head quickly, indicating to Spyro not to tell it.

Spyro finally got the hint and said nothing more.

"So does Spyro want to come or not?" Ember asked as she was a bit confused by the way Georga kept cutting him off.

Spyro didn't contradict Georga, as it was clear that Georga wanted to keep him from saying something.

"Sure." Spyro said as it did sound like fun to him.

"Do you want to come as well Cynder?" Spyro asked.

"Well, I-" Cynder had to think about it for some time.

She looked towards Spyro who smiled eagerly "Okay, I will" Cynder nodded.

"Mind one more?" Frost asked as he got up from the floor.

"Not at all, come along." Ember smiled as she loved to play with friends.

With that the 5 dragons walked out of the honour box.

However then Ember stopped for a second "So what are you going to do?" Ember asked the three dragonflies simultaneously.

"We'll just come along" Nina answered.

"But what are you going to do?" Ember asked as she couldn't think of something.

"Oh, don't worry about us, we're used to staying on the side lines." Sparx said cynically obviously a bit annoyed by the fact.

Seeing that it apparently was fine, Ember just dismissed it and turned her attention back to her friends.

They walked out of the citadel and, while talking about things they were going to do they left towards Ember's house.

* * *

As the five friends were flying Ember turned towards Frost as there still was something she would like to ask him.

"By the way Frost." she said to draw his attention.

"Yes?"

"How did your dad react after his little clash with Cyril?" she asked.

"Yeah, how did he blow off his steam?" Sparx said highly interested.

"Well he was furious, as you would expect you have seen" Frost answered, ignoring Sparx.

"Did you also get punished for it?" Ember asked further.

"After all you also did say that you liked Igüsa while your father despises her." Spyro added from next to her.

"No I didn't get punished. Well, not really." Frost snickered in amusement.

"He just went grumbling by all day, the only thing I needed to do was listen to his endless tirade about how great he was, how bad Cyril was and how low Igüsa was." Frost said.

"That sounds boring." Ember stated.

"You have no idea." Frost said cynically as he slowly shook his head. His voice was cold but also had something of amusement in it.

Believing that details of an endless tirade from Blizzard wasn't worth asking for, Ember looked down and saw the central square already appear into view.

She dove down and landed in front of her house, The 4 other's landing right behind her.

They walked into the house, Ember opening the door for them.

"Oh, you're home and-" Wilmfe appeared from the corridor but then looked a bit surprised by seeing so many dragons walk in together with her daughter.

"Can they all come mom?" Ember asked as it indeed was quite a crowd she had brought with her.

"Sure, just don't damage anything." Her mother answered a bit uninterested.

She turned around and disappeared again, most likely to get some more rest.

Most might have dismissed the second part as unimportant but Ember took it to heart. If they did damage something, she would be the one who would have to pay for it. And Ember knew perfectly well how her mother collected a bill.

"So what do you have here to play with?" Frost asked when Wilmfe had left them.

"Well-" Ember quickly tried to think up a game or toy that they could all play together.

Her favourite toy had always been her strangle ropes but Ember didn't really know a way so that 5 dragons could play with them at once.

She quickly searched for something, was there something they could all do together with it.

"Wait a second!" Ember exclaimed, as she suddenly had an idea. "Let's go outside" She suggested "I'll go and pick up what we need."

None of her friends asked her any question and they all walked outside into the garden.

Ember walked to her room and picked up the thing she played the most with. Her roughly bonded bunch of strangle ropes.

The ropes were about 0,3 centimetres thick and came in a wide variety of bright happy colours.

"What are you going to do with those?" A female voice asked.

"Huh? What!" Ember looked around her room but didn't see anyone.

"Up here." Ember now spotted that Nina had followed her.

"You'll see." She said smirking as she rolled up ten of her ropes into a neat ring and picked it up in her mouth.

The bundle of ten ropes wasn't easy for her to carry. All the ropes together was a lot of stuff to have inside her mouth and her jaws were stretched to the limit.

However she walked out of her room and into the garden where she found her friends waiting, looking at her intrigued.

"What are you planning with those?" Georga asked although it was obvious that Ember couldn't answer her.

Because it was such an obvious thing that she couldn't answer Ember also just ignored her and walked towards one of the trees in the garden. As soon as she had put down the bundle of ropes she got to work on bonding them to the tree. With 10 ropes to bind, it would take her quite some time.

Luckily Spyro, Frost and Georga came and helped her even though they had no idea of why she was doing it.

Cynder didn't help but Ember didn't blame her. She knew that Cynder had a very poor dexterity so she just concluded that Cynder thought that she would be more of a burden than a help.

When all the 10 ropes were bonded to the tree Ember picked them up and hung them to another tree on the other side of the garden. The ropes were about 20 metres long so she could span them over quite a distance.

She made sure they were intertwined as much as possible so that they would be able to share the load.

This time Cynder also came to help and they guided the ropes to the tree and, once there bonded them as well.

When the rope was on the tree Ember did her best to tighten it. The rope was long and she couldn't really get it very tight.

"So now what?" Spyro asked as Ember had said that it was enough.

"Yeah we have created your little clotheslines but what's next?" Sparx asked.

"Let's try to climb on it." Ember proclaimed.

"Climb?" The four dragons and the dragonfly gasped.

It was a very strange idea indeed.

Seeing there bewildered faces Ember also started to doubt it, the idea seemed pretty good in her head but now that she actually looked at it, it did look a bit lame. It was just a large rope hanging from a tree.

Ember pushed the thoughts away and walked to the tree where they had started. She figured that the best way to start it is to begin herself and hope they would like the game.

Actually she wasn't really sure of how to do this but she just jumped on the ropes and spread her wings wide to try and keep balance.

It was tough, but slowly she put one paw in front of the other as she delicately moved along the rope.

Strangle ropes are very strong. They are made so that even adult dragons can play with them. Therefore 10 strangle ropes bonded together could take the weight of a young dragon like Ember with ease.

Ember had a good sense of balance from all of her battles but even for her it was difficult.

The paws of a dragon have 3 toes directed forward. However they can't bent their feet all the way around, so Ember couldn't grab the rope she walked on.

She had to use purely her sense of balance to not fall off. Also the ropes were not on very tight. They sagged from Ember's weight what made climbing them even more tougher.

Though it was difficult Ember slowly found her balance on the rope and tried to get into a rhythm of walking.

However after taking just a few steps Ember tilted very slightly to the right. She still tried to correct it but that was futile.

After only having passed about 1 metre she fell with her back hard on the ground.

She landed with a loud thud, and the pink dragoness lay slightly dazed on the ground, unharmed from the fall.

Suddenly she was slightly startled when the face of Spyro suddenly fully filled up her view "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Sure." Ember chirped and she rolled back to her feet.

"Care to try it?" Ember asked. Her failed demonstration brought a more doubt with her.

Her four friends all stood idle and exchanged glances. It still seemed a bit like a weird idea.

However then Spyro walked out of the crowd and jumped on the rope.

He tried to pin to rope between the footpads of his paws in the hope that he had some point he could use to hold on to for grip.

The entangled rope was very thick but Spyro did manage to squeeze it in between. However that was not a very pleasant experience as the sensitive footpads were pushed outwards.

However despite the discomfort it worked decently and Spyro got about twice as far as Ember.

He went 2 metres before a slight gust of wind distorted his sense of balance.

Spyro still tried to balance himself by flickering with his wings but without a solid point to hold on to he fell down as well.

He landed on his back but he had folded his wings in just before he hit the ground so they cushioned most of the impact. He didn't even have a bruise.

Quickly rolling back to his feet he saw that Ember had approached him.

"Better, I guess." Ember said smiling.

"Yeah, it sure is tougher than it looks" Spyro said.

"I want to try next!" Georga said as she now jumped on the ropes.

Instead of spreading her wings like Spyro and Ember had done she instead folded them in and raised her tail up to just above her folded wings.

Ember was a bit surprised by this at first but when Georga started walking on the thin bridge she understood what the plan was behind it.

Georga's had a very heavy tail appendix. By trying to keep it in the air and moving it the other way she was falling Georga tried to let it act like a sort of pendulum to balance herself.

The trick worked and it brought her even further, she walked along the rope for 4 while moving her tail slightly left and right to counteract any imbalance she felt.

However then she made a misstep with her right paw and it slit off the rope. In reflex she moved her tailglobe to the left but she did it too much.

Her body weight shifted much too far to the left and her paws lost their footing.

She fell down from the rope but wasn't hurt. They were getting progressively better at it but the bridge was a full 15 metres long and Georga had not even come to a third of that.

"I'm next" Frost said as it felt it was his turn now. He eagerly raced towards the rope and jumped on.

However after making only like 5 steps he already fell down. Unlike the other's he didn't get a chance to use his wings to brake his fall and fell down hard on his head.

The others quickly ran up to him worried that he might be hurt. However he just looked up to them while grinning.

"Well, that could have gone better." He said as he rubbed his head painfully, being sure a bump was there.

Now all the friends laughed from it and Frost couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Well only one left!" Sparx said smirking, once they were all finished laughing.

Ember wondered why he found it so amusing as she couldn't spot the joke in it.

Feeling what was expected Cynder took a step back from everyone and didn't seem so willing to do it as everyone else had been.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you're scared" Georga said mockingly as she spotted Cynder backing away from them.

"I-I just don't feel like it" Cynder said nervous.

"Well we do so up you go!" Georga said with a voice not open to any debate as she walked behind Cynder.

Cynder looked a bit desperately towards Spyro but he just looked away towards one of the trees as if observing it. She wouldn't get any help from him.

Then Ember spotted Cynder look at Frost who also looked away, choosing to observe her house.

Seeing how it worked Ember shot her head up and observed the weather for the day.

It was clouded everywhere and the sun was only just visible behind a thin layer of grey clouds. It was a rather cold day for this time of year and clouds was all that the sky was filled with. Ember just hoped that with this many clouds in the sky it was not going to rain.

The fascinating colour of grey everywhere kept her attention for about 15 seconds and then Ember looked back at Cynder who was being guided towards the rope by Georga.

Cynder clearly didn't want to climb over the rope yet she didn't want to drop out on the gang.

When she had arrived at the tree Georga left her and all eyes looked at Cynder with anticipation.

Cynder looked back for a moment, spotting their anxious faces she more or less forced herself to do it.

She still let out a deep tired sigh before jumping up to the rope.

With her long silver claws she trapped the rope tightly between her paws to keep hold of it and guided it past her footpads.

Cynder walked on the rope much faster than the other ones had done but kept her balance perfectly on the thin span.

Ember looked with amazement at Cynder's sense of balance.

It had been a major challenge for her to just make a few steps on the rope, it was so thin and it moved up and down very much. Yet Cynder didn't seem to suffer from any of that at all as she moved on the rope perfectly fine.

However as well as she went Cynder didn't reach the end of the rope and fell off because of a gust of wind. She had reached about 9 metres, which was still more than double of what Georga had reached.

Now it was Ember's turn again.

She jumped on the rope and after having observed her friends she used a few tactics from them to try and do it better this time. However she didn't have a heavy tail like Georga nor had she the long talons like Cynder.

She raised her tail all the way up over her head and folded her wings inwards.

It worked decently with her and this time she went 3 metres before falling off again.

The five friends continued to climb and fall off again and again, trying everything they could come up with to reach the full 15 metres but none of them ever succeeded.

After doing it for about an hour they more or less decided the fun was out of it so they quitted without much argument.

The record had been made by Cynder: 11 metres.

* * *

"So what now?" Georga asked.

As they were at Ember's place she felt that she would be the one who had to come up with a new game for them.

"What to do?" She thought. The expecting gaze of her friends put pressure on her. They of course didn't mean to pressure her that but Ember still felt chased by it.

However unlike last time Ember now couldn't think of something.

"I need to coil my tail around somethi… That's it!" Ember suddenly had another brilliant idea.

"That was a test of balance" she said grandly to get their attention.

It worked well and they all looked towards her with expecting gazes.

"The next test is going to be of endurance" She said with the best authoritarian voice she could muster.

"And what did you have in mind, Ember-sensei?" Sparx asked.

"Well Sparx-san" Ember said although the joke sounded better in her head. "It's to see who can muster up the most-" she stopped her sentence there.

"The most what?" Frost urged impatiently as Ember had hoped he would.

"Tolerance" Ember said, chuckling with an almost sadistically sense of humour.

"Well what were you thinking of?" Cynder said dryly and almost venomous.

"Well to summarize it-" Ember tried to draw it out as long as she could.

However after waiting for multiple seconds and with her friend's faces going from anxious to annoyed she felt like she had to tell it.

"We hang from that rope and the last one to remain wins" She said.

"Hang? With what?" Spyro asked, curiously cocking his head.

Ember didn't speak but she raised her tail and flickered it in the air to sent the message.

"What? Um," Spyro exclaimed understanding what she was up to.

Frost, Cynder and Georga also had doubts about it. They started muttering to each other.

"Oh, come on you guys" Ember urged bring up enthusiasm. "I'll be fun"

"Well, Okay then" Spyro agreed.

"If I have to" Georga gruntingly agreed.

"Just one time only!" Frost now agreed as well.

Ember now looked to Cynder who, just like before seemed to be the least willing of them all.

Ember felt like just like Georga had done last time, she needed to give Cynder a little nudge. "Come on Cynder" Ember pressed.

"Well I-"

"Will do it Ember" Sparx answered for her.

Ember quickly caught on "Fine Cynder, hope you win it as well."

Cynder came along although by her stance it was clear she didn't really want to do this.

"Hey, where are you going?" Spyro asked as he spotted Sparx heading into the house.

"Dragons hanging upside down from a washing line, that my parents gotta see." Sparx said highly amused.

Ember now tried to picture it in her head. It did look a bit humiliating to be hanging like that but somewhere she also could see the fun in it, maybe because of the humiliation.

Ember took the initiative and walked towards the line that was hanging between the trees.

The line was about 1.5 metres in the air. Ember really had a luck in that. It was exactly the right height. Low enough for them to reach yet high enough to hang from.

The rest of the group now positioned themselves next to Ember and they all stood side by side underneath the rope, ready for the sign.

"1, 2, 3, Now!" Ember shouted.

At her que all the five dragons jumped and flipped over. They hang their tail on the rope and cramped it tightly. All of them grabbed hold and they were now hanging upside down side by side on the rope span between the trees.

It sure was a weird sight. The closest thing to compare it with are death animals hanging in a butcher shop.

* * *

As Ember hang by her tail she was already feeling the muscles in her tail starting to ache after only the first minute had passed.

It was heavy to support her entire weight just with her tail alone and that they were hanging upside down also didn't really help.

She could most certainly feel her face becoming red and her thoughts light as the blood all rushed to her head.

However she ignored the cramp and discomfort and continued to hang while tightening her grip a little more.

Doing this was far tougher than Ember had expected it to be. Her tail muscles ached from it more and more and her head seemed like it was on fire.

'THUD!' Ember quickly looked around and spotted Georga on the grass. She was the first who gave up. That she had a large globe as a tail appendix was a disadvantage for her here.

Ember just forgot about it as she kept focusing on keeping herself up.

Her tail muscles kept aching more and more painfully with each second that passed and she clenched her jaws tight to keep her muscles contracted and keep herself up.

However biting through pain was something Ember was used to so she could handle it.

'THUD!' Now another one fell but Ember had her eyes closed and didn't look.

She needed all her focus on keeping her tail curled and herself suspended.

"Well, who would have thought?" Ember heard the voice of her mother say.

She just ignored that as well but the strain on her muscles was starting to almost become unbearable.

'THUD!' Another one had fallen and she knew that meant that only she and one other were still hanging.

Multiple seconds passed but for Ember it seemed more like hours as she kept her muscles contracted despite that they were very tired.

She tensed up every muscle in her entire body as to find any way to fend off her fatigue.

'THUD!' the sound was more beautiful than any Ember had ever heard in her life.

She eagerly released herself a second later and finally fell down safely on the ground. Her tail finally able to get some rest.

She looked to her side and saw that it had been Spyro who had fallen last.

He was still lying on his back in the same pose as he had fallen in, his paws nursing his aching tail.

Ember now also felt dazed and air-headed as the blood finally returned to the rest of her body.

"Well looks like you won this round." Spyro said as he finally got up.

"Well I think that if you had held on for one more second you would have won." Ember said as she also got up from the ground.

She walked towards her group of friends, her tail dragging uncomfortably along the ground.

"Now that was something new." Ember looked to see her mother standing in the garden with an amused look on her face. The look was mostly from surprise but Wilmfe also had found it a bit comical to watch them all hanging upside down.

"Yeah, just trying to be creative." Ember shrugged, a whelpling smile across her face.

"And creative it was." Nina said.

Nina and Flash were floating beside her mother who smiled back at Ember.

"Hey mom, what time is it?" Ember asked.

"It is 13:50." Her mother answered plainly.

"Guess we better go to the arena now if we don't want to miss the battle of Oxidus" Georga said, casting Ember a strong suggestive look.

"Yeah, guess so." Ember sighed a bit disappointed.

The 5 dragons turned around and spread their wings to fly away.

Ember looked back for a second and spotted her mother walking back inside, most likely to get some more rest. She had yet another battle to fight tomorrow after all.

The five young dragons took off and headed back towards the citadel to go and watch the matches of their friends.


	26. watching friends

_Author note: here is then chapter 26. I really like this one however for some reason I feel the quility isn't so good, especially the last part. The battle with Flame I think is great and the scene afterwards I love. It gives more insight in the different characters. Also I liked making Spyro clueless for a chance. now you know why Georga wanted Ember to lose that battle. I also updated my character guide again and added a new feature as well, I think you will like it. From here on things are going to accelarate for my story. The time for lazyness is over and now things are going to get interesting. Things are all fun now but the tournament can also bring things you don't expect. Suprising opponents or even painful situations._

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 26 watching friends**

Ember and her friends landed near the gates of the citadel after the 13 minute flight from her house.

None of them spoke as they landed and they immediately sprinted up into the citadel, everyone was eager to view the match of Oxidus.

The group shot through the citadel and in no time reached the honour box.

As soon as they burst into the yellow honour box they all got to the edge and looked down, hoping they were not too late. They were only just in time; Oxidus was walking into the arena and the match was about to begin.

As he walked especially Georga observed him closely. Hoping very much to see even the tiniest amount of passion or excitement.

With Oxidus however there was nothing new. He was cold, strong, confident, empty and powerful. Exactly like he was yesterday.

A thing that was different from yesterday however was that Georga didn't feel her heart hurt from it at all. Well, at least not as much as it once did.

She didn't really know why it didn't hurt her, the high spirited Oxidus was still something she craved more than anything else.

That hadn't chanced at all. Georga wanted him back so badly, yet for some reason the sight of de gloomy Oxidus didn't hurt her anymore.

Georga shook her head to get the confusing thought out, and turned to the other way to inspect the dragon Oxidus was going to be fighting.

Oxidus' opponent was an middle aged male fire dragon. He had an orange body, yellow wings and large curled horns.

Georga let out a deep sigh. Was this going to be an interesting match for a change? Or be like usual: an instant win?

The two dragons collided tails and returned to their positions.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Terrador declared.

* * *

The second the match started Oxidus used his high speed comet dash to try and make another instant win.

The dragon had seen some of Oxidus' previous matches. So, before he even saw Oxidus moving he already moved the right to try and avoid it.

However, this didn't helped him much as Oxidus, still moving at high speed just divert his course.

Still engulfed in flames, Oxidus jumped right towards the adult dragon's neck.

Everything just all happened so fast that the fire dragon had no idea of what was happening.

Like a flaming arrow Oxidus shot towards the head of his opponent. His body invisible behind a shroud of fire.

Before the fire dragon even managed to get a grip on the situation, Oxidus had already grabbed hold of his neck, and his tailblade was at his opponent's throat.

It was another instant win. This dragon also was no match for Oxidus.

* * *

"The winner is Volcano master Oxidus!" Terrador declared.

The earth guardian tried his best to keep his tone impressive and booming but even he had a sense of disapproval and even boredom in his voice.

Terrador, being a powerful warrior himself knew that this just wasn't right. This was not how a true warrior should fight a battle. He should enjoy it. Feel the thrill of combat and the pride of his victory. Not this cold and emotionless thing, like it all just, didn't matter.

Georga felt the same way as she watched Oxidus walk out of the arena, his posture not giving away even the slightest hint of pride from his victory. She felt bored as by the senseless battles of Oxidus. Senseless, that how it seemed.

There was no point or will in him to battle here. He just fought his battles and went home again.

She didn't even feel for it to go down and congratulate Oxidus with his win. He never responded to her anyway. It was a pointless effort now to even try it. Georga was sure she would just get the same response as yesterday.

"Hey, aren't you going down to congratulate him Georga?" Ember asked her surprised.

"It's pointless." Georga answered, sighing sadly. She didn't turn her head to look and just watched Oxidus disappear into the iron gate that closed behind him.

Ember reached out with her wing and grabbed Georga by the head. She then tugged Georga's face towards her. Georga felt no reason to resist it.

When she had made eye contact Ember looked deeply into her eyes "Georga," She said shaking her head. "It's never pointless, you must show him that you're there for him. Even if he doesn't respond." Ember said with a stern yet oddly caring voice, sounding almost like she thought she was Georga's mother.

Unlike the time when Georga tried it on her, Ember did succeed and really struck a nerve with Georga.

"You're right Ember." Georga decided, nodding her head. She had promised to support Oxidus and help him, no matter how many times he resented her. She couldn't just go back on her promise like that.

Now convinced, Georga hastily ran out of the honour box and headed towards Oxidus. She desperately hoped that she was not too late and he had already left.

As Georga sprinted through the corridors of the citadel she now started to feel a little bit afraid of going to meet him. So far every meeting with Oxidus had been a painful one for her in one way or another.

However those thoughts didn't stay with her for long as she spotted him standing in the exit, ready to go.

Having wasted time to decide she had only managed to catch up to him just in time. He already had his wings spread wide and looked like he was ready to flap them and fly away.

"Wait! Oxidus!" Georga shouted to stop him before he was gone.

To her surprise Oxidus indeed didn't flap his wings to take off.

He waited a few seconds but then folded his wings back in and turned around to face her.

Then just looked at her. He didn't say something to her and it looked like he was waiting for Georga to say what she wanted.

However Georga actually had no idea of what to say. She had come here to sort of prove her loyalty to him, not because there was something she wanted to say to him.

"Who is going to be your opponent tomorrow, Oxidus?" She asked as she had to at least say something.

"Blaze." Oxidus said in a monotone voice. He then turned around and opened his wings again to fly back home.

"Good luck." Georga said while she still had the chance.

Like usual Oxidus didn't reply to her and just flew away.

Georga just kept standing there and watched him disappear into the distance. "Oh Oxidus."

Going to him maybe wasn't such a good idea after all. It had brought back all the desperation and pain again.

"What can I do?" She asked herself.

However as soon as she recognised the thought she shook her head wildly to expel it "No! I can't go down that path again!" She shouted to herself.

A few dragons who were close looked down at her, drawn by her sudden cry but Georga paid them no mind. She was much too deep into her own thoughts to even notice them.

Georga had to keep her head up. Oxidus would come back to her eventually! She had to believe that. She had to!

Georga walked back to the honour box while forcing herself not to think about Oxidus.

It was a very tough thing for her. Just what could she do with it?

As she walked back inside the honour box Georga didn't feel like it anymore to watch the tournament.

The meeting with Oxidus had just completely shattered her good mood.

She coughed to gain the attention of her friends.

"I'm going home now, okay?" She said, once they had all turned around to face her.

"Okay." Frost said for the group.

"Aren't you going to watch the match of Flame?" Ember then asked curiously.

"No, I'm too tired." Georga used as an excuse. She faked a wide yawn, to further convince them.

"Too bad." Ember said a bit disappointed.

Georga felt a bit surprised that Ember just believed her like that. After all Georga could never fool her. Maybe she knew the real reason why Georga wanted to go home now.

However she didn't worry about it. How much Ember knew about this wasn't really important to her.

Georga walked out of the honour box and headed back home.

She wasn't going to watch the tournament anymore today.

* * *

After Georga had left the honour box Ember and Spyro got engaged in a spirited conversation about possible new battle tactics for her.

Ember really felt determined to find herself an alternative battle style to use besides her thermal coat. The counter that Inge had made against it really made her aware that she wasn't invincible and still had to improve.

Spyro was the legendary purple dragon, master of all elements. If anyone knew something about powers it would be him so she kept asking him everything she had doubts about.

However a large problem, that Ember in her excitement failed to spot, was that her level of skill with fire actually far surpassed Spyro's.

Ember was a pure fire dragon. She was well trained and had already fought hundreds of sparring matches. Spyro had to do his very best just to keep up with her.

He did his best to help her as much as he could but every time he suggested something Ember had already thought about it, and discarded it.

Also every time he brought up a fire move Ember had already mastered that move, or had mastered a comparable one that was of an even higher level.

"Ember sure knows her stuff." Spyro thought as he was amazed at the wide variety of the moves that Ember knew.

Ember seemed to truly know everything there was to know about fire; how it feels, how it's used, how it moves, how it does damage, truly everything. She knew everything he did and more.

"Well what could I do when I can't reach the opponent?" Ember's next question quickly snapped Spyro's attention back to her.

"I don't know Ember." Spyro said with a sense of defeat that he tried to hide "Maybe you could try to improve your speed?" Spyro offered her any suggestions he could think of.

"I don't believe that's the answer." Ember said in denial "My speed isn't high enough. The energy control slows me down way too much. My opponent can easily predict my moves and I can't push the energy input any higher. If I do then the risk that I would lose stability is too high"

Spyro looked at her wide-eyed as he only had understood half of that. He never had imagined that fire could be such a complicated thing. It was clear that with his few training sessions with Ignitus he had just barely scratched the surface.

Spyro had always been revered as a master in battle but it now seemed Ember outclassed him as she knew far more about battle than he did.

He felt it to be a bit embarrassed that he, the mighty purple dragon, was completely at a loss of battle tactics. It made him really feel inferior to Ember. Ember's innocent pink appearance didn't exactly make the embarrassment any less.

Spyro didn't want to disappoint her but he knew he couldn't be of any use to her. Ember already had gone way past his level so he decided to just admit it and make Ember stop asking.

"Ember?" Spyro started a bit shy.

"Yes Spyro?" Ember said excited, clearly expecting another battle plan.

"Ember, you have far more experience fighting dragons than I do and you also know way more about fire moves. I'm afraid there isn't much I can tell you that you don't already know already." He said honestly

"Oh." Ember now was silent and looked at him very surprised.

She appeared a bit hurt and even mildly shocked.

"Too bad." She said after a remarkable long time.

"Sorry." He said, though apologizing at this moment didn't make much sense. After all he had just praised her, not degraded her. Ember seemed disappointed because of some other reason.

"Hey, Flame's battle is starting!" In like a flash Ember's excitement returned and her voice shot up both in pitch and in volume.

Spyro looked at her a bit surprise by her sudden chance in mood.

Ember looked down into the arena highly spirited. Like she had already forgotten what she was thinking about.

However he felt glad that she didn't feel hurt by him.

Feeling her energy Spyro also felt his hearth to pump faster. Ember was a very excited dragoness when it came to battling. Along with her Spyro then looked down into the arena to see how the shy red dragon was going to do.

* * *

"Now the Inferno King Flame will face Sparkling Lumina Solaris!" Cyril declared as it was his turn now to be referee.

Ember watched Flame walk into the arena and grinned from happiness by how her friend was looking.

Flame was still walking with a slight slouch but his head was held high. Ember found him now look almost as strong as she knew he really was. Flame had surely made a lot of progress during the tournament with his amount of confidence.

Now Flame's opponent also walked into the arena, and not only Ember but everyone stared at her. She was unlike any dragoness they had ever seen before.

"Heh, fancy nickname" Ember heard Sparx say jokingly.

However Ember found the name very well chosen as couldn't think of it belonging to any other dragoness.

Solaris was a very bright fire dragoness. Ember had never seen another dragoness that had such a bright colour. The colour of her scales was even brighter than Oxidus. However what colour the scales actually were was difficult to make out, closest it came to was an orangey gold. It surely was very different from the crimson red that was usually found on fire dragons. The scales looked very much like solar rays. Most likely her name was also derived from that.

Solaris looked beautiful. It was heavily clouded now and Ember would guess that in bright sunlight she would look even more breathtaking.

However, despite her beauty, Solaris actually was surprisingly plain. She only had a couple of tiny frills at the point where her main body scales met her belly scales. Her body was well formed and very pretty. Despite the lack of decorations there still were a lot of curves and bends along her frame, especially along her hips. Everything merged and was perfectly in synch. There was nothing that interrupted the flow of her body texture, almost like she was grace itself.

One thing that also appeared, was that she was quite young, she was only one season older than Igüsa. But what surprised Ember the most of everything was that she couldn't spot any weapons on her at all. Solaris had very small horns that were curved backwards so much that they were practically useless. Her claws were tiny and she had a small yellow disc on the end of her tail, neither of those looked very threatening either.

"How will she fight?" Ember wondered. Solaris was one of the top 32 of the Igus cup meant she had to be a powerful dragon. Without any visible weapons on her and also without much visible muscle mass she had to have something special.

Ember looked at intensely and observed every detail although she had seen Solaris before. However never at one point had she ever thought about what Solaris' battle skills might be. It was already very surprising to see her even standing in the arena, let alone at this high level.

Suddenly Ember remembered that the same thing was also said about her. Many dragons were very surprised by how tough she really was. This meant that, just like Ember had her thermal coat this dragoness had some sort of special skill and Flame needed to watch out for that.

With that in mind Ember watched Flame walk towards the centre of the arena and Solaris approach him.

When they clashed tails and turned to head back to their positions Ember caught a glimpse of the expression of the dragoness.

Ember was very surprised by the warm smile dragoness wore. A smile of kindness was very unusual here in the arena. Almost all participants had a frowned and no nonsense face. They took every part of the battle very seriously. Ember knew that she did as well. Everyone was serious about the tournament and also were in a serious mood during battle.

However this dragoness did not have that serious and heavy look around her at all. Instead, around her she had a calm and pleasant aura. Her brightly coloured scales seemed to shine only with gentle and pleasant warmth. It was so much that even from all the way up in the honour box Ember could feel herself getting relaxed from it.

It was just so different. It looked surprising that this dragoness was about to battle, it sure didn't look like it.

Ember started to get a really good feeling about this battle. She didn't really know why or what was going to be good about it, her instinct just said to her that this was going to be a fun match to watch.

Flame and Solaris now had reached their positions and turned again to look at each other.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Cyril declared.

* * *

Flame was the first to launch an attack by spitting up a repeated barrage of fire balls.

Solaris jumped up and she flapped her right wing to make herself spin around slowly. The movements she made appeared rather strange. They were beautiful to look at but in a battle a bit strange.

However, regardless of how strange her movements were Solaris dodged each and every one of the projectiles easily.

The beautiful rose then showed her deathly thorns as she whirled back around, and got Flame right in her sight. She counter-attacked with a quickly charged fireball. It looked like quite a powerful one considering the short charging time.

Flame jumped to dodge it but Solaris just launched another fireball and this one hit mark. Flame was knocked out of the air and made a full flip before landing hard on his back.

Solaris didn't bother looking for the effect of her attack and just moved her wings while landing perfectly on her feet.

Flame jumped back up to his feet and opened his mouth again. He shot a high speed fire stream towards her, but Solaris jumped again and dodged it. Then she turned around and prepared to launch her counter-attack.

Flame wouldn't fall for it again however and before she had even began to launch her counter-attack he already fired another high speed fire stream.

Solaris however seemed to be two steps ahead of him, not just one. Giving a powerful flap with her wings she jumped up even higher to dodge it. She did it so effortlessly that it almost looked like she was still standing on solid ground.

Countering again she fired a large barrage of low powered fireballs at the tiny dragon on the ground.

Flame countered the move with the same one and the attacks collided with a loud explosion.

A lot of smoke was created what for a short moment blocked the view.

Everyone expected the fight to temporarily stop until smoke had dissipated but that was not what happened.

Out of nothing Flame was hit hard by a powerful fire stream.

He kept on the ground this time and didn't fall but it was clear that he really felt that one.

Somehow Solaris had managed to attack him through the smoke even though he was so small.

Ember rethought her opinion about the fire dragoness. She may not have the build of a strong warrior like her mother had but she could very much hold her own in battle. The grace and agility of this dragoness were amazing.

And, despite her looks she really had more than enough power to do some serious damage.

Flame he used a comet dash to get closer. Apparently in standoff at long distance Solaris was much too elusive for him. He hoped that up close he might be able to gain an edge over her.

Solaris now used a comet dash of her own and the two headed straight for each other.

This was a very surprising move on Solaris' part. Surely she must have seen that in raw power Flame far exceeded her. Something was off.

They headed straight for each other, Flame's comet dash visibly going faster and packing far more power than Solaris'

Then, just as they were about to smash into each other Solaris' dash veered slightly off course and she passed Flame with just centimetres to spare.

Flame stopped his attack and turned around as quickly as he could.

However that still was not fast enough. Solaris had already stopped and jumped over him to disorientate her opponent.

Now behind him she gave Flame a hard swipe with her tail and as soon as it had made contact she jumped after the red dragon who was sent skidding across the arena.

Opening her wings to remain in the air she opened her mouth and unleashed an attack of a sort that Ember had never seen before.

It were no flames that came out but rather a sort of yellow orange light. It was still fire, that much she knew for certain but it seemed dissipated yet concentrated at the same time.

It was strange but it also seemed to be strong as Flame's feet gave way from underneath him and he fell on the ground. It was like an invisible force pushed him to the ground.

Solaris now dove at him and gave him another strong swipe with her tail.

Flame was knocked off his feet and smacked with his back hard against the wall.

He puffed down on the ground but luckily the damage was not all that great.

Getting back to his feet quickly he unleashed a barrage of fireballs at his opponent.

However Solaris jumped and got just above the main assault, to where there weren't as much fireballs.

She spun around and to everyone's amazement dodged every last one of them effortlessly.

It was incredible, this dragoness was untouchable.

As soon as she had the chance she unleashed her light attack again. And again, just like last time Flame's feet gave way and his head smacked against the ground.

He tried to get back up but it seemed the attack was too strong for him to overcome.

What kind of effect it actually had on Flame was difficult for Ember to make out from the honour box, but whatever it was it worked like a charm.

Solaris had landed now and started to walk up to him. She didn't stop breathing her light attack at him and kept Flame pinned to the ground.

She was now going to grapple him and make her win. That was obvious.

Flame wanted to resist but he was still pinned down by the powerful light. There seemed to be nothing he could do.

Solaris kept walking towards him, her speed a bit slowed to keep up her attack.

Then, all of a sudden something inside of Flame chanced. His pupils flared up with intense fire and his body filled with energy. The blaze in his eyes was stronger than any other in the world and his power supply seemed infinite. He was not going to lose this battle to a dragoness like Solaris!

Bracing his legs against the ground Flame forced himself up to his feet again, going right through the light attack like it wasn't even there. It looked like for no reason his strength had suddenly doubled.

Ember watched him and understood what this meant. Flame's mind was almost always clouded with doubt and uncertainty. This had always greatly lowered his power. Even though he looked confident when he entered this battle he still had many doubts in his head.

However now his mind was clear and focused. Ember had seen him like this only a couple of times before. She didn't know what it was and neither did Flame. The conclusion she upheld for herself was that it was his version of the mental state she was in during her thermal coat.

Solaris was very surprised by it but didn't stop drawing closer. However she did intensify her light attack to try and pin him down again.

She spotted his increase in power but didn't really think that it was a real danger. But in that she was wrong, and she now also was about to find out just how wrong.

Seemingly unaffected by the increase in the light attack Flame opened his mouth as if instinct was guiding him.

He inhaled and unleashed a fire stream of incredible size.

Solaris was stunned by the size of the attack and jumped and flapped her wings all her might.

By only a few tiny margins she dodged the attack but it was a close one for sure.

Now Flame braced himself and took a very deep breath. Ember gulped and instinctively braced herself, knowing what was to come. She now even felt sorry for the poor dragoness who was going to be on the receiving end of this.

Out of Flame's mouth came a gigantic stream of fire that shot towards Solaris, it was enormous. Easily 20 if not 30 metres high.

Against an attack of such a magnitude Solaris' agility was useless and she screamed as she was engulfed by the infinite sea of flames.

She was catapulted high into the air and then fell back down into the arena.

As soon as she fell down Flame did a comet dash and raced up to the point to where she was going to crash.

In what seemed less than a second Solaris was laying defeated on the floor and Flame had his tail dart at her throat.

It all had happened so fast, even Ember hadn't been able to see it.

Ember thought the display did look a lot like Oxidus. She felt really proud of Flame.

* * *

"The winner is Inferno King Flame!" Cyril declared, also a bit awed. He was very impressed by the level of power the shy little fire dragon possessed.

Flame gasped as it slowly started to come up to him what had happened.

Only after a few seconds did he notice the burned dragoness he was holding. He quickly jumped off and looked at her, very worried that he might have seriously injured her.

"Don't worry Flame, I'm okay." Solaris assured him before he had even asked it. She got back up to her feet and smiled down at him to assure him.

Seeing her warm smile Flame felt very relieved "Good." he said happy that he hadn't hurt her.

Solaris now turned around and walked away.

Flame remembered that he wasn't supposed to talk inside the arena so he also turned around.

As he started walking through the gate he was feeling tired but also still pumped by his performance just now.

He had really gotten in his battle rhythm now and was feeling confident and strong. He didn't care anymore what the other's thought of him. He now was the one in charge.

This had been his battle and his alone. He had won it.

"That was an awesome battle!" He thought as he walked into the crowd.

As if by fate he heard a familiar female voice "That was an awesome battle!" Ember said as she appeared from the crowd.

"Thanks Ember." Flame's mind was still so full of the battle he was feeling really proud of himself.

"That dragoness sure was strong don't you think?" Ember said excited.

"Yeah, she sure was." Flame agreed nodding his head.

"She was impressive." he said.

"Well, thank you!" Flame suddenly heard a familiar voice and turned to look.

He spotted Solaris walking up to him, her warm and gentle smile never leaving her face.

Flame also spotted a young fire dragoness walking next to her right front leg.

He was sure he had seen the fire dragoness before somewhere but he couldn't think up her name.

"Hi Ember." The dragoness said with a cheerful voice.

"Oh, hi Inge." Ember answered.

"Oh yeah, Inge." Flame now remembered her as a member of the gang of dragons that Ember was part of.

She was that dragoness who gave Ember such a hard time in her battle yesterday.

"That was a really great battle Flame." Solaris complimented him.

"Yeah, well, it went well, I guess." Flame said, he was starting to get a bit uncertain again as his excitement of the battle was wearing off. Also he hated it that so many dragonesses were around him. He now wanted nothing more than to get out of here.

"Don't be so humble with yourself." Solaris said encouraging.

"You were great out there and you defeated me fair and squire" she assured him.

"She's right Flame." Ember said.

"You fought a really great battle and made a victory you can be proud of!" Inge also added.

"Well, if they all say so..." Flame thought, though not speaking his thoughts out loud.

"Well I really ought to get home by now." Flame said as he didn't want to be around this many dragonesses, he had done what he needed so he wanted to go home now.

Solaris smiled and gestured him out with her wing.

Just as Flame had taken his first few steps he looked back and felt a bit surprised that Ember didn't object, nor wanted to escort him. Mostly he also didn't really want it but somewhere he felt a bit sad because of it.

However he didn't think about it for very long and flew back to the orphanage.

He still felt very proud now and was anxious to tell Grenada about the battle.

* * *

Back in the citadel Ember turned her attention to Inge.

Solaris had just turned around to leave and Inge was walking after her.

"Hey Inge! There is something I want to ask you!" Ember said before she was away.

"Huh? Oh sure." Inge said turning around to face her.

She then turned her head back again "I'll see you at home in a few minutes, okay mom?" Inge said to Solaris who apparently was her mother.

"Okay dear" Solaris said warmly as she walked out of the citadel and flew away.

"So what is it you want to talk about?" Inge asked when her mother had left.

"Well what I wanted to ask you was where did you learn that fire whip attack?" Ember asked her.

"I just wanted to have a move of my own to use during the Igus cup." Inge said shrugging.

"Just like me" Ember said to what Inge nodded.

"My talent has always been in holding fire and manipulating it, so I guess from one thing came another." Inge explained casually.

"It took me quite some practice to get it right. I couldn't yet use it in our first battle because the whip was still too unstable. I kept losing power when I swung it so I needed more practice. I only fully mastered it the day before our second battle."

"So how much time did you spend practicing on it anyway?" Ember asked.

"About a couple of days. I started practicing as soon as that little yellow thingy told me about the cup."

Who Inge meant with a little yellow thingy Ember could conclude easily.

"It went well, although one time I accidentally burned Cynder with it." Inge admitted.

"You did?"

"Yeah but she had no injury so all was well" Inge said.

"But how do you feel about your match of tomorrow?" Inge now asked Ember, her tone suddenly getting more serious.

Ember looked at her a bit clueless at her serious mood, not really getting the problem.

"You know, about your opponent." Inge hinted further.

"Opponent? Oh I haven't yet checked at it!" Ember said looking back in the direction of the main hall, as if she wanted to go right now and look it up.

"Well, let me spare you the trouble then." Inge said a bit sorry for her.

"The match of 12 o'clock tomorrow will be fought between Queen of Burns Ember and Infernal Diva Wilmfe." Inge said deliberately using the full terms.

"What? I'm going to fight my mom?" Ember exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well, yes." Inge said taking a step back, very surprised by Ember's shocked reaction.

Ember really looked shocked and what was in her large blue eyes almost was akin to fear. Her mouth was hanging open and she stumbled on her feet as if she had trouble to keep her balance.

"It was bound to happen at some point you know." Inge said hoping to console her. She also had the possibility to have faced her mother in the tournament

"Thanks for letting me know Inge." Ember said sadly. Her head dropped down and she didn't look at Inge anymore.

"Ember?" Inge was very surprised by the sudden drop in mood from her friend. What was wrong with her?

"I think that I better get home now, so why don't you do as well?" Ember said, her voice empty of emotion as she walked towards the exit and flew back home.

* * *

"Why was Ember so down all of a sudden?" Inge wondered as she was flying back towards her house.

Fighting your family of course isn't fun but Ember had always been very strong and cheerful. That she would respond like that was very surprising. Inge had thought that a dragoness like Ember could handle fighting her mother.

But maybe there was something else going on. Something with her mother that Inge didn't know about.

Inge thought about for a few more minutes but didn't really get to an conclusion or idea of why Ember acted the way she did.

"Ah, she must have her reasons" She said to herself to forget about it.

Because Inge's house wasn't very far from the citadel she reached it very quickly.

Like usual Inge landed in the garden and headed inside without knocking on the door.

As soon as she entered the house she was startled by a voice "Oh, there you are, took you long enough" the voice said annoyed.

Inge was a bit surprised by it at first but only a little.

The voice was clearly female but it was definitely not the one of a her mother.

It was so masculine that it could only have one owner.

"Hi there Flannery." Inge said cheerful even though she couldn't see her friend yet.

A second later she spotted the large and robust form of Flannery appearing from the kitchen and walking up to her.

Flannery never told Inge or her mother if and when she wanted to visit them. It also was not rare that even her own parents didn't know where she was.

"Come here to join at dinner again?" Inge asked her a bit rhetorically.

"What else?" Flannery replied shrugging.

Inge chuckled a little and walked towards the kitchen again, Flannery now by her side.

"So have you told your parents?" Inge asked her. "This time." She added a few seconds later.

"Maybe, maybe not" Flannery said grinning.

Inge knew very well that a 'Maybe' with Flannery meant in 90% of the cases no. However if she got punished or not was not her concern. She wasn't her mother after all.

"Would you girls like some mutton?" Her mother asked as she already come up with a dish full of sheep.

The delicious smell filled the room and Inge felt her stomach growling and her mouth filling with saliva.

Her mother now lowered the plate to the ground.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, -" Inge counted in her head.

The dish now was nearly touching the ground.

"4, 3, 2, 1, Now!" At that exact moment Flannery shot at the food. She dug her claws in as deeply. She dove her teeth into the animal and started ripping of large pieces as if the animal could still run away at any second.

Solaris let out a deep sigh and then started eating herself as did Inge, not paying too much attention to Flannery's lack of manners.

"So I heard that Ember is going to fight her mommy." Flannery said trying to start a conversation.

"Yeah, but she isn't really sure yet." Inge replied.

"I can believe that, boy you should have seen her. I'm thinking she would even ask her mother for permission if she needs to cough." Flannery said mockingly.

Inge rolled with her eyes. Flannery sure wasn't very fond of Ember.

"I think she will go and find a place to hide." Flannery said chuckling evilly.

"Maybe, I just hope she can do it." Inge said a bit sadly as she dug her snout back into the meat.

"Yeah, I am the only one who is going to kick her sorry tail!" Flannery stated, her voice spirited and filled with excitement.

"Well she is pretty tough you know." Inge said to her as in a warning, a piece of meat dangling from her mouth.

"Oh I know that for fact Inge." Flannery said chuckling evilly towards her "I have seen it with my own eyes." She said nudging towards her friend while she swallowed a large piece of meat.

"Well it just shows that you shouldn't underestimate her, Flannery." Inge huffed. "Ember is strong and you know it!" she said while she drew the meat back into her mouth.

"Yet she doesn't want to fight her mother." Flannery laid out before biting of another part.

"Well, yes." Inge admitted as she swallowed her meat.

"She sure is submissive to her mom, right?" Flannery poked Inge suggestively with her wing while she chewed on the meat.

"You've got a good point there Flannery. Working up the courage to fight her mother will be very difficult for her." Inge said just before ripping off another large chunk.

Inge had never heard Ember going against her mother. Ember never even considered it.

"I still think that I should have gotten that honour box seat." Flannery grumbled, changing the topic.

"I'm going to win it, so why not give me a front row seat?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't really matter" Inge said next. Trying to say to Flannery to be more careful was just a waste of time. Inge just agreed with Flannery about her ensured victory.

"You know, I've caught wind that Ember had Georga really riled up with some stage act." Flannery said, her voice dropping down to almost a whisper.

"According to the rumours she was going after that pathetic Oxus again."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Inge asked.

"Georga was so into him that she was starting to give up on him when he started to become depry and all that as well. So in order to snap her out of it Ember knocked her on her head pretty hard." Flannery said.

"Well then I think Ember really deserved that seat. She really did her best for Georga" Inge concluded. She believed what Flannery said as it really sounded like something Ember would do. Helpful and generous but also not afraid to use drastic measures in drastic times.

"Okay, maybe you're right, but she still isn't going to beat me. I will that beat pink hothead her sooner or later." Flannery said a bit grumbling.

Inge couldn't help but giggle at little, "I wonder who the hothead is in here." she whispered softly so that Flannery wouldn't hear it.

"Then again she might not even face me!" Flannery said, her voice rising to much in volume that she was almost yelling.

"Yeah if she faces you it will be in the finals." Inge said as she gestured Flannery to keep her voice down. The statement was true; Ember and Flannery were on the far sides of the match table so if they were going to battle it was going to be in the final match.

Inge bit of a large piece before turning her head around "Hey mom-" Her mother didn't bother them but Inge felt that she had to draw her into the conversation as well.

"Yes?"

"How do you feel now that we're both out?" Inge asked, that being the first thing to come to her mind.

"It's fine, I never really believed that I had the power to win anyway." Her mother shrugged.

"Well that's true." Inge said a bit too honest.

"What was that?" her mother's voice and face all of a sudden changed drastically. She raised an eyebrow and looked sharply down at Inge.

Inge wanted to apologize but Flannery beat her to it "She said you're too weak." She said as if she wanted to clarify it.

Inge shot a murderous gaze towards Flannery who stuck her tongue out.

"Well you are very strong but some dragons just are even stronger." Inge didn't think that taking her words back was the right decision. She concluded that nuance it was a better plan.

"Well, maybe your right." Solaris said as she got back to eating, indicating for Inge that she was in the clear.

Now safe Inge bent her head closer to Flannery "You're supposed to support me Flannery!" she snapped.

"Not a chance." Flannery shot back to her.

Inge rolled with her eyes and just returned to her food.

After a few more minutes the food was gone and Solaris put the dish away.

Inge and Flannery played with a spinner to pass the evening.

Unlike some of her friends Inge did not have a toy shelf in her room. Instead they kept all of her toys in the living room.

Solaris didn't bother them and just let them do what they wanted.

Instead she picked out the mattress from the closet and put it down in Inge's room.

Flannery had never said that she was going to sleep over but she always did when she came in the evening, it didn't need to be mentioned.

After a few hours of playing Inge spun the top back to Flannery but it completely went into the wrong direction.

It flew into the air and it crashed into the open item box.

"Well, you dig it out of there Inge." Flannery said, having an innocent grin on her face.

Inge was the one who had thrown it in so she couldn't object to it. Growling she started sifting through all her stuff in search of the toy. With over 20 items in the box it surely was going to take some time.

"Inge, Flannery bed-time!" Inge heard her mother say.

She raised her head back out of her item box "Okay mom!"

Solaris nodded and walked away.

"Let's just leave it till tomorrow." Flannery suggested as she walked up to her.

"Sure." Inge said as she walked towards her room with Flannery following close behind her.

When they entered Flannery right away walked towards her mattress and puffed down on it. It seemed like all the energy she had just moments before had vanished.

Inge walked past her and laid down on her bed next to her. She was a bit waiting for what Flannery was going to do.

However Flannery didn't do anything except yawn as it seemed she just wanted to go to sleep.

Curling up into a sleeping position and she already closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep. Not having the energy to start a conversation.

Inge was a bit surprised that Flannery was so tired all of a sudden but when she thought about it, it was understandable.

Flannery's opponent in her match today had been a hard one. It was against a really big and strong adult fire dragon. Flannery really had to pull out all the stops in order to win it.

At a few points Inge had even be afraid that she might not be able to do it. However in the end the dragon was no match for her friend.

"Good night, Inge." Flannery said, her normal gruff voice now suddenly soft and warm.

"Good night Flannery." Inge said back as she rolled up into a sleeping position as well to gather up a bit more warmth.

She twitched and turned somewhat but finally found herself a comfortable position on the soft straw.

Now that she was lying down on her soft and comfy bed Inge also started to feel a little sleepy.

For her today had been very unremarkable, just watching the battles of her friends. Flannery's match had been a good one and also Ember had been a fun one to watch.

Inge did feel a little bad about her loss to Ember yesterday. Now she was out of the tournament.

However Ember defeated her fair and square. Inge just wasn't powerful enough to win the Igus cup. However she never thought she could actually win it anyway. She already considered it quite an achievement that she had reached the victory tournament.

Now her mother also was out. However Flame had beaten her completely fair as well.

"Flame sure was impressive today" Inge thought. She had never thought that Flame could hide such power. He sure was full of surprises.

Inge now lifted up her head and looked at the large red form of Flannery who laid about a metre away from her.

Flannery was curled up with her back towards Inge so Inge couldn't see if Flannery was still awake or had already fallen asleep.

However judging by her slow breathing Inge concluded that Flannery was already asleep.

She smiled as she watched her friend.

Flannery had slept with her before many times and whenever she did Inge always felt more at peace than she normally was.

She didn't really know why, Flannery was everything but calm and gentle yet somehow she felt more safe to be together with her.

Whenever Flannery slept over Inge never had problems getting to sleep. With Flannery by her side Inge felt so relaxed that it just came by itself.

"Good night, Flannery." Inge whispered again before closing her eyes and drifting into happy dreams.


	27. tough challenge

_Author note: Here, at long last is chapter 27. I have had a straining series of difficulties now so I'm sorry for the irregular updates._  
_Anyway, I like this chapter and I do consider it good. Maybe not one of my best but for the situation and the difficulty I don't think it is half bad. As is obvious Ember really seems to struggle with fighting her mom. I really like the mediation scene, I can do it as well a little, it really helps you relax in stressful times. I also think that battle is good. That chat before the battle also has charmes to it in some way._

_Things are now really starting to speed up for my story. The endless string of filler chapters is over and now things are going to heat up. Believe me, from here on in you are going to have to pay close attention. Just what is Ember going to exeriance?_

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 27 tough challenge**

Ember blinked a little and tiredly raised her head as she slowly woke up from a heavily troubled night.

She yawned deeply before lazily laying her head back down on her bed.

Her body felt like it was so heavy, she couldn't even lift herself off the ground.

However, try as she might, Ember couldn't fall asleep again.

After almost an hour of fruitless tries Ember gave up on it and just rested her head on her paws to try and get her thoughts in order.

What was troubling her was pretty easy to comprehend.

When she had entered this tournament she had never even thought about the prospect of fighting her mom.

The thought of fighting her friends had more than once occurred to her but she was convinced she could do that. However her mom was an entirely different matter.

The thought had haunted her through the evening and kept her awake well beyond her normal bed-time.

"How can I do something like this?" Ember thought desperately.

"I don't know if I have the power but, even if I did-" Ember just couldn't see how she was going to fight her mother in the first place.

Yet there were important prices for her to win.

The position of guardian would be something of a dream for her, and a possible battle with Spyro was the entire reason she entered this tournament in the first place. She didn't want to give those up.

Ember really wanted to win, but still…

"Why do I have to fight her?" Ember loved her mother but what's more she also knew that she really wanted to win as well.

Even though she tried to hide it, Ember had seen her mother fight with an amount of zeal and passion that was only possible when you really want to win it. She knew that her mother wanted the position of guardian just as desperately as she did.

Her mother had entered this tournament to win it.

Ember was also really worried about her performance during the practice fight they had two days back. She could still very well remember the humiliating display of her being knocked around the garden by her mom like it was nothing.

Her mother clearly had been faster, stronger and tougher.

Ember hadn't learned any new tricks yet so she was deeply worried that she would be no match for her.

"Should I really have spent yesterday on playing?" She now thought a bit regretful. If she hadn't wasted that day she might have found some sort of way that could help her in this battle.

However the second the thoughts entered her mind, Ember shook her head to dismiss them. "It's useless to regret a lost day." She said to herself. "Just what am I going to do now?"

The thoughts about both the battle itself and the principle of fighting of mother kept circling in her head as Ember just stayed on her bed and waited for her mother to come in and get her.

This happened about half an hour later.

"Ember?"

Ember looked up to see her mother appearing through the curtain.

She looked down at Ember curiously and almost seemed worried.

Ember was always up early in the morning, especially now during the Igus cup. Normally she could always be found outside in the garden; training hard or warming up for her next battle. It was very unusual that she would just keep lazing around in her room.

"Morning mom." Ember said half friendly, looking up at her still from a curled up sleeping position.

"Let me guess." Her mother said in a amused tone.

"You're scared of our battle today?" she concluded grinning.

Ember was only mildly surprised that her mother could just guess right away what was wrong with her. Wilmfe had always been able to read Ember as if she was an open book to her.

"Well, yes." Ember admitted a bit reluctant, she didn't really want to admit fear but lying to her mother was not only pointless, but also very dangerous.

Her mother looked at her with a mixed expression and it took quite some time before she spoke.

"Just do your best Ember and have no regrets." her mother said very simply.

However for Ember it wasn't that simple "I know that mom but-" Ember just didn't know if she would be able to fight her. It just seemed so, impossible.

Even if she had the power for it, could she really fight her? It just didn't seem real.

"Ember-" Her mother shook her head. "Every warrior must overcome her fears and doubts." she said, her voice now a bit more firm.

"On their own, fear and doubt are not things for a warrior to be ashamed of" Her mother lectured "Every warrior will encounter fear at one point, it's natural."

This sentence really peaked Ember's attention.

"What matters is that you must overcome your fears, just like every warrior must."

"A dragon who never feels fear is no warrior but just an arrogant and reckless fool. You must know what to be afraid of and how to respond to it"

Ember nodded to indicate that she had listened to what her mother had said and that she understood.

"Let's give it our all Ember. So that neither one of us will have any regrets." Her mother concluded.

"Okay mom, let's do it!" Ember said strongly as she forced herself up her feet. If she wanted to fight Spyro she would have to win this, she had no choice.

"Good, now that we have that settled, I have breakfast already up." Her mother switched subject quickly.

"Thanks mom!" Ember said as she followed her mother out of her room.

As she passed her Ember looked up and saw that her mother was smiling. It wasn't directed at her but she was smiling for some reason.

She didn't understand what her mother was smiling about but Ember didn't really think about it for long.

She just concluded that her mother was looked forwards to their match.

When she entered the room the dish with food indeed was already there and Ember stopped.

She waited for her mother to start and only when she was sure her mother had swallowed her bite did Ember start herself.

As they ate her mother then went against her habits again and got into a spirited conversation with her.

It had been a long time since Ember has had such a lively breakfast. Ember really enjoyed it.

"Mom." Ember thought happily. Her mother had been so kind and supportive to her since this tournament started that Ember partially hoped it would never end.

Her mother really wanted her to fight in their match. That was the way she could make her mother proud of her.

"So what did you do yesterday?" Her mother next question snapped Ember's attention back.

"Well I invited my friends to come and play and after that we watched a few matches, but other than that; nothing special." Ember said casually as she couldn't think of anything remarkable that had happened yesterday.

She shortly felt a bit of hear that her mother would get angry that she had been playing yesterday instead of training.

However Wilmfe just looked curious at her as if wanting Ember to continue. Ember mentally sighed in relief.

"But the day before yesterday I went with Spyro and he and his parents told me all about his life when he was growing up." Ember said as she did judge that as a major event.

"They did?" her mother said curiously "So did you also learn anything from them?" Her mother asked as Ember always was very curious and would grab any opportunity to learn more about the outside world with both paws.

"Yes, it was very interesting, I never knew a dragon could live inside a swamp. It was just so different what they all told me." Ember said.

"It sure would be something to visit the swamp one day." She said a bit dreamy.

"Maybe we could, I too would like to see it one day." Her mother said, really catching Ember by surprise.

"Huh? But why?" Ember asked as it didn't make any sense.

"Oh, no reason." Her mother said innocent and she quickly drove her snout back into the animal again to tear off some more meat.

Ember thought about it for a second but then decided just to leave it at that. She picked another bite herself and chewed the cooked pork meat. Her mother could often be strange and unpredictable.

Although she was her mother Wilmfe still could surprise Ember a lot of time, reacting in ways Ember never had expected of her.

Ember swallowed the meat and forgot about it as her mother asked her a new question again.

Ember was quite hungry and all the chatting of her mother really prevented slowed down her eating. However Ember didn't complain about it at all. Her mother was acting so cheerful and so supportive of her that it hardly mattered.

* * *

Because they talked so much it was already over ten o'clock before they had finally finished their meal.

Ember helped her mother with putting the dish away and removing the bones.

When they were finished Ember looked at the clock and it was already 10:15. Ember hadn't checked the time-tables yet so one of the battles of her friends could already be underway.

"Let's go to the citadel now." Ember suggested, not wanting to miss any of their battles.

"Okay." Her mother agreed.

She walked outside and Ember merrily walked along. She felt really happy that her so often went along with her towards the citadel. It sure was a whole lot better then going alone.

When they were outside, they both took off towards the citadel where they would spend their time until their match was.

As Ember flew above the city she looked to her mother that was flying a few metres to her right.

The thought that she had to face her mother still felt nasty to Ember, but with her mother supporting her she now believed that, hard as it would be, she could do it.

It was not like she had much choice in the matter.

Ember and her mother landed near the front gates a few minutes later and walked inside. Ember stayed close to her since she hated crowds. A disadvantage of her was that her unique pink colour attracted a lot of attention.

However, while she stayed very close she didn't cling on to her like she did yesterday. Her mother did not allow that so instead Ember just walked as closely as she could.

"I'm going to the honour box now, okay mom?" Ember asked as they neared the stairs going upwards.

"Okay, I'll see you again in the arena." Her mother replied, for a change looking at her as she spoke.

However it didn't really make Ember feel any comfortable "Yes, there I will see you again." She thought grimly as she parted ways and headed up to the honour box.

When Ember entered the large square shaped honour box she looked around to check who was there.

Inside the honour box she could spot: Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, Nina, Flash, Georga and Volt. However she couldn't spot Frost anywhere.

"Hi Ember!" Spyro said as he spotted her.

"Hi Spyro, where's Frost?" Ember asked him.

"He said that has some problems with his dad but he promised that he would be in time for your match." Cynder answered before Spyro could.

"Okay." Ember replied.

Ember didn't need much additional information to get herself a picture of what kind of problems Frost was having.

Maybe his dad had heard about him playing in her garden yesterday. He most certainly wouldn't like it if Frost played those silly games with them.

Ember didn't think about it for long, right now she only had room in her head for just 1 thing.

Ember looked at Spyro and Cynder for a second and then walked up to them. For a change she walked to Cynder and laid down on her right side.

Cynder looked quite surprised that Ember had chosen to lie down next to her instead of Spyro or Georga, however she felt no reason to send Ember away.

Instead she just tried to start a conversation "So, do you already know it?" Cynder asked a bit careful.

"Know? About what?" Ember asked clueless, cocking her head sideways. However that was an act as she knew perfectly well what Cynder meant. She just didn't want to say it.

"You know, about your opponent" Cynder hinted.

"Yeah," Ember sighed "I know that I have to face my mother in my next battle." She replied sadly while dropping her head and her wings.

Cynder spotted what effect it had on Ember and quickly thought of something she could say to bring her spirit back up.

Suddenly she remembered something that she had once stated herself.

"You can do it Ember, it is only a battle after all." Cynder said smiling.

"Yeah but I love my mother and I don't want to hurt her." Ember said as an excuse, she didn't want to say the real reason why she was struggling so much.

"I understand that Ember." Cynder said softly, believing her excuse.

"Do you remember that exhibition match between me and Spyro at the start of the tournament?" Cynder said, switched topics.

"Of course I remember that" Ember replied, lifting up her head to make eye-contact again.

"Well, I really thought the same way." Cynder said smiling warmly.

"You did?" Ember was quite surprised by that.

"Yes, before the battle I just didn't know if I could do it. I didn't want to fight Spyro." Cynder said to her.

"However after I actually really thought over it I realised that it was only a battle and that it's all just for fun." She said trying to give her hope.

"When I realised that it was easy." she said.

"Then what was that kiss for, Cynder?" Spyro suddenly asked, his voice sounding almost angrily.

"Kiss?" Ember repeated puzzled.

Cynder turned her head towards Spyro, who was on her left side. "Well, can't a girl just express herself?" Cynder asked him with a sly voice.

"Wow, wow, wow, wow, wait a second there man, she kissed you, for real? I mean truly mouth to mouth." Sparx now involved himself into the conversation as well as it was starting to get interesting.

Spyro growled with closed jaws and then snapped his head away "Yes, she kissed me full." He admitted exasperated.

"So, was it good loverboy?" Sparx eagerly asked him.

Spyro was about to open his mouth but Cynder beat him to it "Well I liked it very much." She said giggling.

"Just like that time just before we went out to spread the news for the first time." She remembered out loud.

"Well that was a different thing Cynder!" Spyro now all but yelled at her.

However Cynder wasn't even the slightest bit intimidated "It was? What was so different about it?" she asked him sly.

"Well, it wasn't really, I mean it was. No it wasn't like that-" Spyro stammered as Cynder continued to look at him, a mischievous smirk across her face.

Ember turned her head away and just let them talk as they apparently forgot that she was even there.

"So how are you feeling dear?" Ember looked up to see that Nina had addressed her.

"I'm fine." Ember said very unconvincing.

"I understand that it is difficult to fight your parent." Ember turned her head and saw Georga walking up to her and laying down next to her. She just ignored Spyro and Cynder as they got more and more caught up in their talk.

"Yeah but I will just have to do it, I really want that match with Spyro." Ember said, as it was the only thing that was really important for her in the tournament.

"That's right." Georga agreed.

Then she was quiet for a few moments as if she needed to formulate her next sentence more carefully "You know that your mother is very powerful Ember, you would have to face her sooner or later." She pointed out.

"Yeah" Ember sighed, knowing Georga was right.

"Ember, If you want to win then you'll have to force her rule over you aside for a moment." Georga said her voice suddenly sounding a lot more serious and she looked at Ember intensely.

Ember knew that Georga was referring to the spankings of her mom as she had told her all about them. Georga had made a promise to keep the spankings secret so she didn't mention them in public.

But still, to just shove the rule of her mother aside like Georga said was something Ember didn't view possible, not even for just one battle. Her mother, well, she was her mother; she decided what she did, Ember had to do what her mother told her to.

"Just for one battle you'll have to forget about it." Georga said simply.

"That's easy for you to say!" Ember thought, clenching her jaws together to make sure none of the angry words came out. She didn't want to shout to her friend but it really made her fierce that Georga talked so casually about it, like it was nothing.

Ember now looked to the enormous electric parent of her that stood a few metres away. Volt truly loved Georga and never in his life would do anything to hurt her. He might hit her sometimes maybe but those cases were rare and not like Ember's brutal spankings at all. Georga never had any reason to be afraid of him.

But her situation, well it was just so different. Her mother was just such a completely different dragon than Volt.

Ember had every reason to be afraid her. That was just the reality. Her mother told her what to do. If she didn't- Ember now dispelled the thoughts as she spotted Georga looking at her a bit worried.

"That's easier said than done Georga." Ember shot back doing her best not to sound as agitated as she really did "You know how the situation is for me." She pointed out.

"Just what can I do?" Ember almost whimpered.

" Come on Ember, you're thirteen now and that means you're not hatchling anymore!" Georga suddenly scolded, her voice shooting up in volume and becoming surprisingly harsh and stern.

However right away afterwards she started grinning "Sound familiar?" Georga asked with a sly smile.

"Yeah, you've got me that time" Ember admitted while also grinning. It was the exact same thing she had said to Georga when Georga was whimpering.

"I'll go and fight okay?" Ember said but it was mostly to just make Georga feel satisfied so that she would stop asking.

"Okay then" Georga said smiling.

While Spyro and Cynder argued some more about their relationship and Sparx randomly threw insults to either side, Ember and Georga turned their attention back to the matches below.

However Ember wasn't taking in any of it, there was simply too much on her mind for her to focus.

Despite having said that she would do it Ember still found it very difficult to imagine it.

Ember tried forcing her attention towards the match down below her. Hoping to get at least a little bit more grip on her thoughts but it didn't work out well.

The battle below was a match between two females. Although they were both adults one was considerably smaller than the other one.

With that scene Ember's thoughts again quickly drifted off towards her coming match.

When she would be standing in that arena and her mother would be standing across her on the other side.

Ember had practiced with her mother many times before in order to train. One down side of that now was that she could picture the entire scene of the battle perfectly.

She could see her mother's body standing in front of her; all her muscles were tensed and the wings slowly waving in the wind. The intimidating sound of her anxious breathing but more than anything else, the glaring look in her eyes.

Her mother's eyes, that gaze could always scare Ember to the core no matter how old she became, no matter how many times she had seen it before. Her mother's eyes never lost their deep and frightening power. Every time those burning red eyes pierced her body all of Ember's courage sank away.

Ember didn't want to think about it but couldn't help it. Slowly but surely the scene of the future battle slowly started to materialize in her head as she added more and more details to it.

She wished the match to stay away but as the matches unfolded one after the other it became closer and closer.

Ember watched the match of Oxidus and tried to focus at least a little bit of attention to it. However not only was that very difficult because her upcoming match but the match was also just boring.

Oxidus won in like three seconds and didn't even care one little bit about his victory. He hadn't made any improvements.

However neither did Ember with her struggle of coming to terms with her upcoming battle against her mother.

* * *

Actually much too quickly Ember saw the last match that she knew was before hers.

The match wasn't really very interesting and Ember didn't really pay much attention.

When the match was over Ember almost reluctantly turned towards her friends.

"Guys..." she said a bit unsecure.

"Good luck" Spyro said before she had even told them.

"You can do it!" Georga said encouraging.

"Just have fun." Cynder reminded her.

"I will, thanks." Ember nodded to them and then walked out towards the arena, heading slowly towards the most dreaded match of her life.

As Ember walked in nervous pace through the citadel she remained very deep in thought.

Having created the image already during her hours standing in the honour box, it was a snap for her to picture them standing face to face, however it was impossible to see herself in that picture also truly fighting against her.

However regardless if she could picture it or not it had to happen in just a few minutes from now.

"Mom" Ember now stopped walking and stood in the middle of the stadium as she was deeply in thought.

Could she really do it? Did she really have the strength to fight against her own mother? After all, just the thought of it…

"No! No! No! Get a hold of yourself Ember!" She thought as she forced herself not to despair before the dark thoughts had a chance to get in.

"If you want to have that match with Spyro, and to become guardian one day you have to win and prove yourself over all other fire dragons!"

"All! Including mom!"

However as she stood there she knew that thinking it and actually doing it where two completely different things.

She then remembered the meditation skills she had learned from her mentor and she went through them in the hope that maybe, they could help calm her mind a little.

Ember closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nostrils, she slowly exhaled a few seconds later.

Then she took another deep breath and exhaled again, slowly building up a rhythm.

The crowd was still rushing past her but Ember didn't noticed that anymore.

She was slowly starting to feel the pleasant feeling of tranquillity deep inside of her heart and she could feel the warm energy of her fire element spread itself through every single vain and part of her pink body.

From the core deep inside of her energy flowed out and was absorbed into her. Ember's heart rate slowly decreased and her breathing became superficial and rhythmic.

She just stood there, listening to her own heartbeat. The sound might be small and insignificant but it was there nonetheless. The constant soft thumbs that came with every second, they would never stop. They were certain and constant. It was such a beautiful sound.

Slowly the pleasant flow of fire filled up her body, driving away all her empty feelings. Slowly they filled up her body until no empty area's remained.

All her worries were pushed out of her body or completely incinerated by her fire energy. From her heart they were all forced out of her.

Through her legs they were then absorbed into the ground. All the worries, doubts and fears, she all just shed them. They were only going to bring her down.

Ember now opened her eyes and nodded to herself in approval.

She took a deep calming breath and slowly started thinking about what she had to do now.

Why was she going to this battle? Why did she want this?

She wanted this because she wanted to fight against Spyro.

If she wanted to fight him then that meant that she had to get past this round, and if she wanted to get past this round that meant she had to defeat her opponent.

She had to defeat her opponent, no matter who that might be.

Now feeling calm and relaxed Ember started walking again towards the arena. She did her best to keep up her empty and clear mind and not let it be clouded again with doubts and fears.

She walked into the participant's entrance and stopped before the familiar large heavy iron gate.

"Queen of burns Ember?" the dragon asked who was on duty.

"That's me" Ember confirmed, not turning to look at the dragon and speaking with a monotone voice.

The dragon said no more and Ember just looked into the arena as she waited for the gates to open.

However as she waited the doubts and fears started to return again.

How could she possibly to this sort of thing? Her mother was just…

Recognising the thoughts she closed her eyes and meditated again. She had to make sure she was going to be ready and focused for it, because this battle was not going to be an easy one in any way.

It was not only going to be tough for her to gather the courage she needed. Her mother was also simply an extremely powerful fire dragoness. Possibly one of the strongest ones around and it was going to take everything Ember had to defeat her.

She knew her mother was not going to give any quarters. Her mother was going to do everything she could to defeat her so the only way for Ember to win was to do the same.

She had to fight this battle with everything she had if she even wanted to stand a chance against her mother.

It was going to be a very tough battle for the young fire dragoness, both mentally and physically.

* * *

After a few minutes of waiting Ember heard the words she both longed for and graved.

"And now Queen of Burns Ember will face Infernal Diva Wilmfe!" She heard the high pitched tone of Volteer declare.

The gate opened with a grinding noise and the large empty battle arena opened up in front of her. Like inviting her to walk through.

However Ember didn't move from her position. She stared into the large void in front of her, like the gates were still down and blocking her path.

"This is it." Ember gulped as it required a shocking amount of willpower from her to even make her first steps into the giant sand filled battleground.

Using her strong will Ember slowly walked into the arena and towards the centre.

Ember could hear the crowd cheering her on, especially her friends. Ember for some reason allowed herself to look around the arena.

The crowd today was quite large. About 5/6 of the stadium was filled what meant that about 10.000 spectators were watching her.

Ember felt a light gentle breeze push against her wings and unlike yesterday the sun was shining and felt warm and soothing on her pink scales.

The conditions for battle today were perfect but nothing could make this any easier for the little Ember.

Because as soon as she turned her head around she saw the sight of her mother entering the arena as well. Immediately it felt like all the confidence and strength she had build up during the day just sank away into the sand.

She had seen her mother inside the arena many times before during all of her matches. But up in the stands the Infernal Diva didn't even look close as intimidating as it did face to face.

The razor sharp red pupils of her eyes seemed sharper than ever and drilled into her all the way to the heart. All the muscles in her body were tense and the dragoness looked focused and totally ready for this. The picture Ember had made for herself during her pondering had been wrong. From down here it looked ten times more scary than she had ever imagined.

Ss she slowly walked towards the centre of the arena Ember needed every bit of self control she had not to stop and whimper. Her mother also walked towards the centre, watching her daughter intensely with a sharp gaze.

When Ember had now reached the middle of the arena and she almost quacked in fear as she slowly put her tail up for the greet.

Her mother slowly approached her and Ember gulped while doing her best not to show fear.

When Wilmfe had reached her daughter she right away slammed her large tail hard against Ember, not being to type to be gentle with anybody, and especially not with her daughter.

Wilmfe was more than four times Ember's size so for her small body it was quite an impact.

Her legs deeply bend down but Ember managed not to fall down, although it was close.

Wilmfe didn't nod but just silently turned around and walked back.

Ember now also did the same as she tried any way to prepare herself for this. The fight now only seconds away.

While she walked to her position she invoked her mediating for the third time now in only a minutes.

With her mother walking behind her it was very difficult but she forced all thoughts out of her head and used her fire element again to calm herself.

Ember strictly forced out every thought that even had the slightest scent of doubt, fear or reluctance to it. She was going to do this and she was going to go all out! That was the only right answer.

When she had reached her position to turn she tried to activate her thermal coat.

It was going to be difficult because Ember needed a clear mind to activate the move. It required every bit of self control the fire dragoness possessed to keep her head focused and clear under these circumstances.

As she slowly turned around she could see her mother now doing the same and glaring down at her pink daughter from a few dozen metres away.

Ember was always tough and confident. She was afraid of no-one and never showed doubt but her mother was the one exception to that.

No matter when or how Ember was impressed by her.

However despite now almost looking at her directly Ember somehow did succeed in getting her mind clear enough and she could slowly feel her thermal coat starting to activate.

Slowly but surely Ember's body lit up with the same familiar intense glow and the hot energy of fire burned away all her doubts.

Now that she had activated her thermal coat Ember's mind totally changed and the danger because of her doubts and fear vanished.

Now there was no more fear, no more uncertainty or doubts. Only the power of her fire spreading through every single part of her body.

"I'm going to win this fight!" Ember thought as she grinned arrogantly.

She looked towards her opponent and bend down into her fighting stance "She won't even know what hit her." Ember said to herself arrogantly.

"Heh, and when she discovers it she won't like it" Ember chuckled evilly at the thought of burning away this hot-shot.

Her fire element ruled her mind and filled her with strength and confidence. That was the thing that Ember had prepared for. That she would be able to activate her thermal coat. Now that she had she felt no more fear. The fear was completely insignificant next to the tremendous amount of heat and power she now held inside of her body.

Now, for the first time she was truly ready for it.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Volteer shouted.

* * *

As soon as the sign was given Wilmfe instantly shot towards her daughter.

Ember watched her unmoving as the crimson red dragoness flashed across the arena and went straight for her daughter.

When Ember was in range she raised her paws and made a strong swipe.

Ember just smirked and waited for it. Her eyes taking in every single movement her mother's body made as it came towards her.

Last time she fought against her mother she was tossed around the garden left and right but this time was going to be different.

This time she was going to do the tossing around.

She followed the paw up to the moment it hit her side, she didn't even put the slightest amount of effort in trying to avoid it.

Ember was hit hard but she had seen it coming and as soon as she felt her mother's paw make contact she reached out and grabbed it.

Her mother was clearly tough as she didn't make a sound from feeling of Ember's hot body on her paw.

She shook her paw wildly and Ember had to dig her claws in but she managed to hold on.

Then Wilmfe lashed at her with her other paw and swooped Ember off.

Ember was smacked downwards and landed hard on her head.

However now both of Wilmfe's paws had nasty burn marks on so, although Ember had taken a hard hit just now it was clear that Wilmfe had taken far more damage in this first attack than Ember had.

Wilmfe glared and snarled at Ember with retreated lips but, with her thermal coat clouding her thoughts Ember just glared back and did the same.

Mother and daughter glared and snarled at each other, waiting for the first one to make a move.

That one was Wilmfe as she shot a fireball towards Ember now.

Ember stood idle and didn't make any sort of move to avoid it, she was just going to take the attack head on just like the first one.

The fire ball was more powerful than Ember had expected and the shockwave forced her back by over a metre.

However she didn't lose her footing and her thermal coat protected her from the fire. As long as she had her thermal coat on she couldn't be harmed.

Wilmfe growled in frustration at first from her lack of success but then stood still and seemed to be focusing on something.

Ember moved her head forwards curiously and wondered what her mother was doing.

However Ember didn't have to wait long for it as suddenly Wilmfe roared and unleashed an immensely powerful fire ball that flew at an incredible speed towards Ember.

Ember had no chance to get out of the way in time as the white hot fireball hit her less than a second later. Ember yelped as for the first time the fire was actually burning her scales.

The sensation was a new one for her. The heat from her thermal coat still inside her scales yet being burned by something that was even stronger, even more hot than she was.

Her protection had always been enough but it seemed that her mother was just so strong that she could break right through it. Just defensive tactics weren't going to do it this time.

Hoping that taking the offensive might help Ember ran towards Wilmfe while shooting fireballs at her mother to try and pin her down.

However the fireballs were very weak and Ember ran very slowly as almost all of her energy went into maintaining her thermal coat.

Therefore her mother didn't seem impressed by the attacks but for some reason didn't flee away from Ember either. This was strange as she clearly had the ability to do so.

When Ember was close enough she jumped up towards her chest to try and make a major burn but Wilmfe flapped her wings and shot backward.

Ember just missed her by a few mere centimetres.

However she didn't reach the ground as Wilmfe lashed out with her tail at lightning speed and hit Ember very hard on the side of her head.

This time Ember couldn't grab hold and was bounced hard one the ground five times before coming to a stop. Her chest and head really having received a few bruises.

"Is that all you can do Ember?" Her mother asked her degrading "Pathetic!"

"Believe me mommy-" Ember said as she got up again, her thermal coat still ruling her thoughts. "You haven't seen anything yet" She shot back.

"Well bring it on then!" Her mother jumped into an exaggerated battle stance in order to taunt Ember "I'm waiting." She said slyly while she shook her hips.

Her thermal coat might cloud her thoughts a little and cast out her fears but Ember was still thinking clearly.

Because of that she concluded that just her thermal coat wasn't going to win it this time. Even not if she used it for both offense and defence.

No, against an opponent that was of such a high level as her mother she needed to step it up a few nudges if she still wanted to win.

She had to fight better than she had ever fought before. Her mother was an opponent unlike any she had ever faced. Someone who could truly push Ember to her limits. In order to defeat her she needed a new strategy. Something her mother wouldn't expect of her.

Ember lowered the power of her secret weapon to get more power to use for her elemental attacks and physical movements.

She needed to fight more creative and couldn't just rely on power. In raw power she stood no chance against her mom but, there still was a way to take her down.

As her mother had said herself; Everyone has a weakness. This included Ember but, 'everyone' also included Wilmfe herself.

She also had a weakness and Ember just had to find it.

With the fire energy in her body much lower Ember once again could feel the intimidating aura as her mother hissed down at her.

However she now was really into her battle rhythm so she managed to handle that.

Running towards her mother Ember watched every move Wilmfe was going to make very closely. Looking intensely for even the slightest signs of weaknesses or flaws in her battle style and powers. Anything that she might be able to use to win.

Like last time her mother raised her paw up and prepared to swat Ember away again.

What she didn't know however was that Ember had lowered the power on it. The change in intensity of the light was very difficult to spot in the bright sunlight and sand filled battleground. Also, Ember had lowered the power of the thermal coat but had not completely shut it off. The light was slightly lower in intensity but it was still there.

She lashed out with her right front paw but Ember jumped and with her now increased speed she managed to dodge it.

As Wilmfe's strike missed Ember spotted her balance being off for a moment.

Taking that moment Ember jumped towards her mother and clung on to her chest.

Wilmfe cringed in but still didn't make a sound.

Despite that Ember's intensity was lowered she was now touching Wilmfe with every part of her body so it was even more painful than last time.

Ember was very surprised that her mother didn't make a sound, she never knew that her mother had such a high tolerance for pain.

She climbed up towards her mother's neck to make another win. Just like she had done in her match yesterday against Nitrus.

However her mother was aware of what she was up to and she was going to make that it wasn't going to work.

She jumped up and shook wildly like a wild beast. Then she bucked and twisted back and forth, it almost looked a bit silly seeing the dragoness trash around in every direction but Wilmfe didn't care. She never really believed in elegance in battle.

Ember tried to hold on with all her might but after a wild swing to the right she lost her grip and was hurdled up into the air.

Ember had partially seen it coming however and flapped her wings hard as soon as she lost her grip.

She managed to regain control of her flight and as quickly as possible did a comet dash back down towards her mother, not wanting to give her mother time to recover.

Wilmfe was very fast however and moved her body sideways.

Ember missed her by only a tiny margin but still smashed head first into the ground.

As soon as she could she turned around but it was already too late.

Her mother's tail lashed out with a wide sweep and hit Ember full on her side.

Ember was sent skidding across the battlefield before coming to a stop a few metres beyond.

Now she did get up quickly enough and breathed a firestream at her mother.

Wilmfe countered that move with a fire stream of her own.

The two attacks clashed inside the arena and both Ember and her mother tried to force the clashing point away from them.

Ember shifted her footing a little to get a better stance and forced even more power into the attack. The recoil was strong as the pink dragoness summoned forth every bit of power she possessed.

However as strong as she was it seemed Wilmfe was stronger still as the clashing point came closer and closer towards her.

Ember kept pushing it away but the opposite attack slowly kept coming towards her.

She couldn't win this, she had to do something.

Just as the attack was about to hit her Ember broke the attack and rolled over to the side.

The attack glanced her side but her thermal coat protecting her from the heat.

As soon as she could she shot a fireball in the direction of her mother.

The moment she had fired it she flapped her wings and headed up, not looking if her fireball had hit mark.

Wilmfe shot a fireball of her own to counter the attack and the two fireball exploded into the arena.

When Ember heard the bang she speeded down towards her mother.

She surrounded herself with flames and, empowered by a comet dash she rushed towards her with everything she had.

Because of the explosion her mother had temporarily lost sight of her and she only spotted the blazing missile coming towards her at the last second.

She still tried to move out of the way but wasn't fast enough.

Ember crashed full force against the side of her head what made Wilmfe loose her footing.

She fell over on her side and Ember was going to use this tiny opportunity to the fullest.

At the moment that she hit her mother she coiled her tail around the neck and grabbed her horns to stop her dash, very much like the technique of Oxidus.

The speed was high and Ember had to hold on tightly but she somewhere found the strength to hold on.

As quickly as possible Ember firmly grabbed the head and put her claws at her mother's trachea. Being too small to grab hold of the entire neck.

* * *

"The winner is Queen of Burns Ember!" Volteer declared.

Ember was still lying on top of her mother's head and Wilmfe hadn't yet risen up.

"I won?" Ember thought with a sense of amazement.

The final moments of the battle had all happened so fast that Ember had fought on pure instinct so she hadn't really recorded what had happened.

Only now did it start to dawn on her what she had just achieved with this.

She had done it! She had won! She had actually defeated her mother!

Seeing that she still had her mother held down in a very uncomfortable position Ember quickly deactivated her thermal coat and released her.

She jumped off and turned around but for some reason her mother didn't get up and kept lying on the ground.

Ember walked carefully up to her "Are you okay mom?" She asked concerned as she was worried that she might have actually injured her.

Suddenly her mother shot her head towards her "Grrrr." She snarled aggressively, her eyes glaring daggers.

Ember staggered back in surprise by this but she was glad that her mother wasn't injured.

After her mother got back to her feet she turned around and walked out of the arena without saying a single word to Ember.

Ember just did the same and walked towards the exit of the arena. She still felt very proud about her win though the response of her mother confused her a bit.

It didn't make sense. Was there something going on with her?

When she walked into the tunnel that towards the central room the sentry addressed her "Do you know her?" He asked.

"Why do you ask that?" Ember asked.

The earth dragon looked at her surprised by the counter question "I don't know, something in the way you two were battling indicated that you two know each other well" he said .

"Well to be honest, that dragoness is my mother." Ember admitted as she saw no reason to hide it. Actually, she loved to say it after the amount of effort it took.

"Did you just defeated your own mother?" The sentry repeated in shock and amazement.

"Yes I have, but please excuse me" Ember bowed and walked out.

She didn't really want to talk with the dragon right now. She wanted to know what was wrong with her mother. Why she had reacted the way she did in the arena. It just didn't feel right.

She walked out into the main hall and looked around in search the black and red shape of her mother.

Ember didn't have to search for long as in under a minute Wilmfe appeared from the crowd.

Ember watched her in search of something that was out of the ordinary.

She couldn't find anything to point at but her mother still looked a bit strange. Her wings were down and she walked very slowly. Her head was hanging down so Ember couldn't see her face.

"We're going home." Her mother said in an empty voice before Ember had a chance to ask her something.

The cold tone in her voice surprised Ember. She couldn't think of a reason for it, it didn't make any sense. If anything she would expect her to be excited. The battle had been awesome but for some reason her mother didn't seem enthusiastic at all.

"What was that about?" She wondered but as her mother walked out of the citadel Ember followed her nonetheless.

She didn't ask the question to her mother, that just had to wait until they were home.

When they were out of the building her mother spread her wings and took off and Ember did the same shortly afterwards.

During their flight home Ember kept a certain amount of distance between herself and her mother as something seemed wrong.

Her mother wasn't acting like normal. What was different about her behaviour Ember couldn't really tell but something just didn't feel right.

It almost seemed like she was hiding something. Like she had something going inside her head.

Her mother landed in the streets with Ember beside her and walked inside.

Ember, as faithful as always followed her inside the house, having no idea of what was going to be in store for her.


	28. harsh punishment

_Author note: Ember has defeated her mother but what now? Will Wilmfe just accept it or not?_

_Here is at long last chapter 28. I have worked like crazy on it but that's mostly because of my difficulty to write now. I had to wait until by betareader finished with it. Anyway, I really like this chapter, it's one of my favourites. Ever since I made it about half a year ago I've been dying to show it to you guys. It's not easy but I think I did a well enough job considering the circumstances._

**The legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 28 harsh punishment**

Ember walked into her house brimming with pride. Her head held high and a wide grin across her face

She had done it! She had finally done it! She had defeated her mother in battle.

To defeat such a powerful dragoness like her mother was an impressive feat of strength but for Ember; the only thing that really mattered was fighting her in the first place.

To gather up the courage she needed to fight had been very difficult. It had cost Embed almost all of her will power and courage but, she had done it.

Despite looking her mother straight into the eye and Wilmfe looking more fierce than Ember had ever seen her before she had calmed herself and kept focused during the entire battle, not even flinching once.

For some reason it felt to Ember like she had just grown 5 years older in that one battle. To have defeated her mother completely on her own just felt very satisfying.

It felt like she had finally proven that she was no whelpling anymore now but a real life dragoness, and a powerful one at that.

The thought just made her feel so good.

Suddenly Ember jumped up as she heard a loud bang coming from behind her.

She quickly turned her head around and saw her mother; having just slammed the door shut with her tail and looking down at her with a murderous glare.

"Come here you!" she all but screamed at her, her voice all of a sudden filled with rage.

Ember let out a helpless squeal and shrank to nearly hatchling size.

She covered her eyes with her paws, too scared to even look at her.

All of Ember's previous pride and confidence vanished in an instant and she trembled in front of the red draconic form of her mother.

Slowly Ember removed her paws and she carefully took a peak at her mother's face. Terrified at the sight she might find.

As soon as Ember saw her mother's blazing red hot pupils burning into her she shot her head back down towards the ground again but, she had already seen enough.

She knew that look in her mother eyes, she knew it all too well.

It was a punitive glare of anger and aggression. The creases in her mother's face and the hellish fire in her now feral red eyes were unmistakable. Her mother was furious, not just mad but simply furious.

Ember had never seen her mother looking down at her with so much rage. Not even the time when she had broken their crystal clock had her mother looked at her this way.

Ember gulped in fear as she knew very well what it meant for her when her mother was angry. With her mother this angry, her heart all but stopped at how horrific it possibly was going to be.

"Why?" She managed to force out. Why was her mother so angry at her? She hadn't done anything wrong. It couldn't be that-

"I said come here!" Her mother shouted even fiercer now what seemed to snap something inside of Ember.

As soon as the razor sharp command reached the pink dragoness it felt like her legs gained a will of their own. They slowly started moving and brought her in the direction she was ordered. Slowly and fearfully Ember crept along the floor towards her mother, cringed down to a pathetic hatchling size and her face hanging down submissively.

She had no choice but to go, she had to obey and do what her mother demanded of her. Even though she knew very well what was going to happen if she did.

As soon as Ember was within reaching distance her mother swooped her tail around her and slammed Ember hard on her back instead of gently placing her there like she normally did.

Ember wheezed as the air was forced out of her lungs but before she could breathe again she was pressed down viciously by her mother's wings.

Her mother was having no mercy with her and pressed Ember down with all her strength. Ember ground her teeth from the pain in her left wing as that was being forced downwards in a very unnatural position.

She tried to fold it in but was pressed down with so much force that she couldn't even move it.

Because Ember was pressed down so hard she didn't even need to grab the spikes of her mother to stay on. Simply the pressure alone was enough to prevent Ember from moving in any direction.

Through the pain of her sharply bend wing Ember gaspingly tried to replenish her air supply but a powerful blow on her tailbase knocked it out of her before she could even start.

What little air the pink dragoness still had left in her lungs she screamed out from the first blow already.

When she finally got a chance to breathe again she inhaled deeply and panted but before she could even take another breath the second hard blow forced her to scream again.

Then the next blow came and Ember continued to pant and gasp as she screamed from the one after that.

Ember felt like she could choke as she screamed her heart out from the blows and was pressed down with so much force that she could barely breathe.

However Ember didn't think about breathing now, she only screamed from the spanking that was harder and more rapid than any she had ever suffered.

'Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!' the blows came down at such a horrible fast pace. She couldn't even keep count on how many it were. It seemed like an endless barrage of slaps, not just one at a time but simply a storm of blows.

It felt like her eyes closed by themselves now and she cringed in with what little room she still had left. Trying to find any possible way to console herself.

Tears appeared in her still closed eyes as the painful and brutal spanking hit her not only on her backside but also deeply in her heart with every stroke that came down on her.

She felt like she couldn't move, not the wings of her mother but the overwhelming barrage of beats knocked out every bit of strength Ember ever thought she had.

All her confidence, all her excitement of the battle, all her pride of defeating her mother, it was all just simply being smashed to pieces by the most horrible spanking ever.

Ember had no strength anymore to resist her. She was completely powerless and helpless to her mother. Wilmfe could hurt her just as much as she wanted to and there was nothing Ember could do to stop her. All she could do was simply cry and pray for it to be over soon.

"Why mom?" Ember shouted in tears. She knew that she was forbidden from talking during a spanking but she didn't think about that anymore. She hadn't done anything bad at all, there was no reason that she had to endure this. She had won the match fair and squire. She knew that she wasn't naughty. She had done only good today. She knew it!

Her mother didn't seem to hear her and continued her rapid spanking without hesitation or with even the tiniest amount of reluctance.

Ember now let out a long and painful scream from the relentless spanking that burned deeply into her with each slap.

Ember had been spanked before countless times in her life but never like this. In all the other spankings she knew how many blows it was going to be and she just counted them towards the end.

The pain was hard but there was always the knowledge that, painful as it was, it was finite. Ember knew just how much pain was coming and how far they were towards the end.

However this time she had no idea how it would last. Her mother just kept beating her again and again without slowing down.

For her that was even worse than the slaps themselves. She just didn't know for how long it would go on. It felt like it could go on forever.

Her mother hit her on the left side of her tail, then the right, then the left again, then the right once more. Left, right, left right, She never slowed down even a little bit to allow poor Ember to recover.

Ember kept squealing and sobbing, tears escaping from her tightly closed eyes and flowing freely down her chubby pink cheeks.

They slowly fell off her muzzle and dripped onto her mother's back, her mother seemingly unmoved by it.

As the relentless blows came down on her painful and sore tailbase Ember could feel the tiny scales of her mother's tail very well.

She could feel her mother's pedal shaped tail appendix. She could feel the slight bending it had as well as the spine that ran through it.

Every single detail of the tail she could feel burning deeply into her with every single strike that it made on her.

Ember cried and squealed with everything she had but there was no one who could hear her pain. It was just she and her mother, Ember completely at her mother's mercy.

The spanking continued on and endless tears kept flowing out of her shut eyes. The blows on her tailbase were hard and the pain her mother gave her was agonizing for Ember. It seemed her mother had no mercy at all with her little pink daughter.

Wilmfe spanked Ember without letting out a single sound or emotion. She simply kept hitting and hitting her pink daughter´s rump ruthlessly again and again. Never slowing down nor even showing a little bit of care of what she was doing to her.

Ember let out another desperate shout from a particularly hard blow and just cried helplessly as she waited until her mother had satisfied herself with beating her.

Ember right now felt just so helpless and humiliated. She was a warrior, a strong and brave warrior yet there was still nothing she could do.

She had to take this and take it all.

Ember didn't keep quiet or tried to resign to it. She just kept shouting out and screaming in pain, tears never stopping from flowing out of her innocent and hurt blue eyes.

Minutes, hours it seemed, passed until at last, in the haze of blows, pain, screams and tears her mother finally stopped.

Ember panted in desperation and was crying so hard that the tears were simply raining down on her mother's back. She didn't move at all nor talked, she simply just sobbed.

Ember's entire backside was a bright red colour and stung agonizingly. Bruises and even blue spots covered her tailbase and Ember could feel it heating up already. Her tailbase was so sore and painful from the onslaught it was going to take days to heal.

This was beyond doubt the most horrible spanking Ember had ever had in her entire life.

How many blows had it been? 100? 200? 500? Anything seemed possible, Ember had no idea how many blows it had been and actually it didn't really matter.

She didn't deserve this at all! She had done no wrong. Ember had defeated her mother in that battle completely fair. And yet she was spanked. It just hurt so much.

But, at least now it was over or at least that was what Ember thought.

"I don't even think you felt that!" Her mother snapped with an amount of venom and sadism that shocked Ember to the core.

It was a voice of pure evil and fury. Totally unlike the cold and insensate voice her mother normally had during a spanking.

This spanking was no punishment. Her mother was furious and was expressing all of her anger and frustration on her. The helpless and submissive Ember of who she knew would never fight back.

Her mother's anger hadn't subsided yet and for Ember that meant that more was on the way.

"Please mom, no more" Ember begged in tears as she was half dazed by the brutal spanking. It was already unbearable at as it was. Ember couldn't think of it getting possibly even worse.

"Please, I learned my lesson. Please." she stuttered.

Her mother didn't respond but didn't continuo the spanking either what meant that it could have an effect.

Ember took that slight glimmer of hope with her everything she had.

"I can't take it anymore." She shouted. "Please stop."

"I love you mom, please stop, please." Ember whimpered, tears flowing freely down her face.

She buried her head sobbingly down into the scales of her mother. There Ember just whined and begged helplessly, not showing even the tiniest bit of dignity or strength.

Normally Ember cried during a spanking and was submissive but she always kept herself at least a little bit of dignity. However this time she didn't care about that as she just wanted it to stop.

This spanking was something she couldn't handle. Not only was the spanking itself more painful than it had ever been. But what was even worse was that this time her mother wasn't beating her because she was bad. This time her mother hurt her because she just felt like it.

"Quiet you!" Her mother snapped venomously at her whimpering.

Ember yelped from a hard warning blow on her already very sore tailbase but that was nothing compared to what she was about to go through.

She suddenly felt a relieving feeling as the pressure on her back was lowered a bit.

Sliding a little now she instinctively she grabbed the spikes in front of her.

As soon as she had fixed her position she wondered what had just happened.

She couldn't see it from her position laying on her mother's back. But she didn't need to look back as she quickly figured it meant that her mother had lifted up her left wing.

She had no idea why her mother did that but she was glad for it anyway because it finally freed her trapped wing and she could now breathe a little bit more comfortable.

Then, suddenly Ember's mind was shot as she felt her tail being lifted up into the air.

As her tail was raised Ember's sex organ was exposed. Something Ember was very well aware off.

Although she was quite childlike Ember was still a dragoness of fertile age.

Therefore it made her feel acutely very uncomfortable that her mother lifted her tail and exposed her entrance.

Instinctively she put counter pressure against it to lower her tail again.

Suddenly there was a strong force on the back of her head and she slammed into her mother. Her vision blackened as her face was buried into the scales.

Ember couldn't see a thing now and could only still breathe through her nostrils.

With her now distracted her mother pulled the tail up over Ember's back.

She then caught Ember's tail with her wing and moved it back over Ember. Then she pushed her down again and kept the tail trapped between her wing and Ember's back.

With her entrance now exposed Ember shivered as she felt a cold breeze. Her cage of wing membrane and dragon body was warm but the lips of a dragoness' cloaca are so sensitive that they sense any exposure.

The temperature in the room was lower than her body temperature and she could feel that very well.

Then the thing happened that, although it should have been obvious Ember still didn't saw coming.

She let out a horrible muffled scream of terror as she felt her mother's tail blade against her now vulnerably exposed opening.

She screamed into her mother's body as her head was still being buried down by her wing.

There was a short pause and then Wilmfe hit her again on her opening, and then one time again around the edge.

Ember screamed her lungs out with each time and she wasn't done screaming from the first or the next one caused her to scream even louder.

The feeling of the blows was something that Ember had never experienced before or even knew existed.

It was such a excruciatingly sharp feeling. Not like the normal pain of a spanking at all. During a normal spanking; the blows were softened and spread through her entire back side, they only seemed to effect her body. It was painful and she hated it but it was bearable.

However this was something even a dragon as tough as Ember couldn't take.

Her last amount of will broke and she started yelling and whimpering blindly.

She struggled against her bonds but her mother's wings were too strong for her.

Ember pushed, turned and twisted but no matter what she did the wings wouldn't move.

Inside of her the feeling coursed and burned as it spread itself through every single vein of her body. The deadly sharp feeling filled her head and just overruled her thoughts.

When it had spread itself throughout her body it felt like there was nothing else remaining, nothing else but pain. Every other emotion or feeling was just completely cast aside.

The pain felt not like hammer blows but more like knives, the force of the blows were the size of the knives and the spikes of pleasure that came with it were the razor sharp cutting edges of them. The storm of knives started from her behind and went towards her head while cutting apart everything in their path.

Ember couldn't think about anything else anymore. She still tried to keep herself together but that was a futile effort. The feeling was just too strong to handle.

She couldn't see, hear, smell or taste anymore. She could only feel the excruciating pain she was in.

Ember never stopped struggling against her bonds but weak hatchling struggle wouldn't do her any good against a full grown adult like her mother.

Ember's body now started rocking and jumping up uncontrollably with each blow that came. Every muscle she had unwillingly contracted with every blow what caused her body to rock and move in all kind of random ways.

Never could Ember have imagined that such a feeling really existed. That anything in this world could be so horrible, so painful.

She struggled more and more wildly and suddenly she could feel fresh air as her head popped free.

She screamed out with all her soul in the hope that someone might hear it and come to save her.

But nobody came for her. "Wheeh!" Ember cried like a newborn from pain and disappointment.

The pain continued to burn deeper and deeper into her and Ember was starting to loose all sense of her surroundings.

Tears were still flowing from her cheeks and dripping off her face. Forming a small puddle between her paw and running down the length of her mother's body.

"Mommy, please!" She whimpered.

"Help me mommy!" She yelped. Her mind was so full of pain and so torn by the sharp feeling that she didn't even realise it was her mother who was causing her the pain in the first place.

She kept screaming out for her mother as the bolts of burning pain destroyed her mind further and further.

"Ember." through her haze of pain Ember suddenly thought she heard a voice calling her.

The voice sounded familiar to her but it was very faint. It sounded a bit like a memory but yet somehow it seemed real.

"I'm sorry" The voice was there again. It wasn't her mother as the voice was male but with the pain overruling her mind Ember didn't know anything anymore.

"Ignitus!" Ember shouted without knowing.

But he also didn't come for her. Nobody would save her and Ember cried once more in disappointment.

The pain seemed to go on for hours. Ember kept squirming and whimpering uselessly.

By now Ember didn't feel the individual blows anymore.

Her private parts had become so sensitive and the strikes so painful that they simply blended together. The pain didn't disappear fast enough or the next blow forced it up again.

Ember had become totally surreal. Her mating instincts combined with the excruciating pain completely destroyed her mind.

Ember had no idea anymore of where she was or who was causing it.

The only thing she knew was that she was in an unbearable pain and that she wanted it to stop.

There was nothing else she wanted, nothing she needed except for the feeling to finally stop. She would give anything for it, anything! She just wanted it to stop.

It had to stop! It just had too! The feeling just was too much to exist. It had to stop!

However no matter how desperately she wanted it to disappear it stayed and she couldn't take it. It was far beyond what she could handle. She couldn't stand it another second, it just was too much.

She wanted the feeling to stop, the price she didn't care. It just had to stop.

"Please, make it stop!" she shouted full of tears.

But it didn't stop. It kept going on ruthlessly.

"Please, make it stop, please," she whimpered.

It still didn't stop. No matter what she did it wouldn't stop.

"Make it stop!" she screamed with her entire heart and soul.

However the jolts kept just sharp and painful every time they came to burn into her. It wasn't something she could get used to. She yelped, begged, cried, whimpered, struggled, screamed and shouted but everything she did was in vain.

Ember tried to open her eyes to look for something that might ease the pain but she didn't even have the strength to do that anymore.

No matter how hard she tried to fight against it or accept it, it kept coming and stayed beyond endurance.

Ember lost all track of time. Her eyes squeezed shut and she kept yelling blindly.

The feeling burned deep into her mind and imprinted a mental scar on the little pink dragoness that would last for the rest of her life.

Ember was now completely broken. She was a tough girl but this was something beyond her. Just something that was nobody could handle. It completely shattered her sweet and kind heart.

Ember screamed blindly and struggled as the horrible torture continued on endlessly.

Then, after an eternity the burning feeling seemed to stop. Ember didn't know if it was real but she desperately hoped so. It just had to stop.

Slowly it became less and less until finally; it was over.

Now that the pain was gone at last Ember finally screamed out and sprang into tears.

She was crying like a hatchling and now started struggling again.

She wanted no more; she just couldn't take any more this. She had to get away now!

Suddenly she felt something move underneath her.

She had no idea what it was but it made her feel very frightened.

Suddenly she felt herself being hurled through the air and collide hard with something solid.

"Wheeh!" she cried in the corner where she had landed.

Ember's eyes now finally shot open and she frantically looked for a way out.

She had to get away. Where she didn't know but she just needed to get away.

She suddenly spotted what looked like an open door.

Hoping it to be a way out she raced through the opening.

The late sun welcomed her as she made it outside. It was a nice day.

However Ember didn't notice it and just kept running blindly.

She wanted away, she wanted to run away from here and never stop running.

Now that she could finally run, she would go as far away from this pain as she possibly could go and never return again!

She was still crying and her eyes were still half shut, Ember had no idea of where she was going but just kept running.

Suddenly she thought she saw something purple appear in front of her but with her eyes still half closed and filled with tears she didn't stop for it.

* * *

Spyro was flying towards Ember to congratulate her with her win.

He actually wanted to go Ember right after her match was over but Cynder was of the opinion that it would be better to let Ember settle things with her mother first.

It had been about an hour and a half since Ember had left the citadel and Spyro thought they would be done by now.

He really felt that Ember had made a great accomplishment today.

After all Ember had been struggling to fight her mother ever since she first heard about it and she had done excellent.

The battle had been a very good and Spyro knew that Ember had done her very best there.

Spyro now spotted the house of Ember and gently landed on the street.

Her mother sure hadn't pulled any punches in that battle, Spyro knew that for certain. She really had fought Ember with everything she had so that made Ember's victory only even more impressive.

As Spyro walked towards the house of his friend he was suddenly startled when he heard a lot of bellow coming from somewhere.

He looked around to find the source of it but before he could identify it he heard a loud blow what ended the bellow.

"What was that?" Spyro asked himself.

He looked around but no matter where he looked he couldn't spot anyone nearby. He was standing completely alone.

As he was almost there he just dismissed it but he quickened his pace towards Ember's house. There was no reason for him to think that the sounds had anything to do with Ember but he still wanted to get there quickly. Just in case.

He was feeling slightly relieved as he saw the house of the pink dragoness appearing.

Suddenly, out of nowhere someone crashed full force into him.

Spyro was knocked down on his back and other person fell over on top of him.

Spyro looked up a bit annoyed to who it was but when he spotted her his annoyance vanished and was replaced by shock.

It was the pink dragoness that had crashed into him, and she was crying.

"Ember?" Spyro exclaimed in shock.

Ember didn't reply and just kept crying. She didn't get off of him and to Spyro's shock she buried her head inside of his chest to cry more.

"Ember, what happened?" Spyro asked still laying on his back with Ember sobbing in his chest.

Ember just continued to cry and sob without giving even a clue that she had heard him.

Her cheeks and her chin were soaked with tears and Spyro could feel her body tremble as she lay on top of him.

Spyro looked to Ember with pity and shock. The sight of Ember like that was something Spyro had never seen before. He had never seen Ember behave this way. Not even close.

However Spyro didn't think about it for long and now tried to push Ember off of him so that he could talk with her.

Ember wouldn't let go and kept holding on to him with both her paws.

She held on to him like for dear life and pressed her muzzle into his chest as she kept sobbing.

Spyro used his tail to give a bit more force to his push.

Ember did get off this time but something was very weird.

She didn't let go of him but was forced off. However Spyro knew very well that Ember was much too strong to be pushed off so easily, if she wanted to hold on to him than he shouldn't be able to push her off unless he used extreme force.

But he just gave her a medium push. What was going on with her?

Spyro got back to his feet but couldn't get his thoughts in a row. The situation had him completely shocked, stunned and baffled.

Ember stood before him, crying heavily and not speaking at all. It looked like she was in a completely different world.

She sat on her behind for a second but immediately jumped up again as if she had sat down on a branch of thorns.

"Spyro!" Ember suddenly yelled as if she had just noticed him now.

"Ember" a bit on instinct Spyro walked closer to the dragoness to try and find any possible way to console her.

However as soon as he was close Ember ducked underneath his head and hugged him tight with her wings.

She pressed him as tightly against herself as she could and it looked like she would never let him go again.

However Spyro pushed her off again. He wanted to comfort her but not like this.

Ember was still much too weak to resist and it was easy for Spyro to push her away.

When she was off Spyro looked at Ember stunned as he tried to get his thoughts in line.

"Let's go to the citadel now, okay Ember?" Spyro suggested as he had no idea of what he was going to do with her.

Ember stood unmoving and wept silently but after 10 seconds she nodded.

Spyro turned around and walked back to the citadel, Ember following slowly by his side.

Spyro walked the entire way to the citadel instead of flying.

Ember's house was quite a distance from the citadel to go by foot by Spyro but wanted to comfort Ember. In any way he could.

As they walked Ember kept trying to touch his side and never got away from him.

Hoping it would help Spyro draped his wing over her protectively and allowed her to walk closely next to him.

Normally Spyro really hated it whenever a dragoness got this close to him but with Ember crying nonstop the entire way he made an exception for her.

As they walked Spyro just couldn't get the question out of his head "What could possibly have happened to her?" he kept asking himself that question every 10 seconds during the entire journey.

He looked towards the sobbing dragoness that he had under his wing.

Ember looked so broken en pitiful. It just was beyond belief. What could have possibly have made her like this?

The two dragons slowly walked the entire way to the citadel. Ember never said a single word to Spyro and just kept sobbing as she leaned on him for support.

Spyro didn't say much either. Not because he didn't want to but because he had no idea of what he could possibly say to the crying dragoness.

He just let her lean on him and looked at her with pity.

When they had at last reached the citadel Spyro saw Cynder appearing from the gates and walking up to them.

She looked at him with curiosity for why Spyro had brought Ember along but that emotion disappeared almost as fast as it came.

She stopped about a metre in front of them and looked shocked at Ember who looked at her for one second before ducking back under Spyro wing.

Cynder looked back at Spyro, disbelief, shock, confusion and pity all written across her face.

"What? What has happened?" She asked him shocked.

"Let's just get her to our room okay" Spyro suggested. He had no idea of what was going on either but he really wanted to know. He simply had to find a way to help her.

* * *

With Cynder's help Spyro brought Ember up to their room and once there they put her down in a corner.

Once in the corner Ember backed away from them in fear and kept crying.

"Okay, enough tears now!" Sparx said a bit annoyed.

Spyro snarled at him to say something like that now. However he didn't do something about it as he had bigger issues.

He turned back to Ember "Ember, what happened?" he asked slowly and carefully.

"I-I-" Ember stuttered between sobs.

"Come on Ember, what happened?" Cynder now tried.

Ember didn't even give a reply this time and crawled away from her sobbing.

"Ember, we want to help you" Cynder said as softly as she could. However as she approached her Ember backed against the wall, seemingly terrified of her.

Now Spyro also approached her, trying to help.

"Please Ember, just tell us"

"Spyro!" Ember screamed like a helpless hatchling.

She flew out from her corner tackled him to the ground. She then buried her head inside his chest again and sobbed desperately.

"Uh?" Spyro had no idea of what to think about Ember's behaviour.

"Help me please" she begged Spyro.

"Excuse me?" Cynder said, her voice sounding a little sharp now.

Somehow Ember seemed to hear it as she got off of Spyro and just sobbed some more while standing motionlessly.

"Cynder, try and see if you can find Georga. She knows Ember very well and she might know something" Spyro suggested.

"I will" Cynder said although it sounded a bit reluctant.

She walked out of the room clearly with having some reason to stay behind.

"Why don't you go along with her Sparx?" he strongly suggested as he didn't want him around with Ember like this.

"Do I really have to?" Sparx complained.

Spyro glared dangerously at him and got the message as he grumblingly went along with Cynder.

* * *

When the door closed Spyro turned back to Ember.

For some reason Ember turned away from him again and had laid back down in the corner.

She just lied there now, sobbing and crying like a hatchling. Not paying Spyro any heed it seemed.

This was all so odd. Spyro had no idea of what to do with it.

He had asked what had happened too many times so he didn't know what to say now to the crying dragoness that lie in front of him.

Suddenly now that she was laying with her side to him Spyro spotted something strange.

Ember's tailbase and all the sides of her behind were bright red or blue instead of their normal pink. Outside in the sun it was hard to spot but now he could see it clearly.

Spyro had never seen that before.

"Is she sick?" he wondered as he had no idea of why Ember's hindquarter had that colour.

He decided now try to and ask it again.

"Are you sick Ember?" he asked, his voice as soft as he could make it.

At first nothing happened but then Ember slowly rose her head up and looked at him with teary eyes.

She didn't speak but Spyro just looked at her calmly and didn't rush her.

"No" She answered at last.

As Spyro looked more closely it all of a sudden hit him.

He couldn't believe he was so clueless that he didn't recognise the kind of redness. It was from bruises and he had observed the battle and he knew that they didn't come from there.

"Did someone attack you?" he asked then.

This time Ember also took over a minute before she replied.

"No" she said silently her sobs intensifying.

Spyro saw that this was going to take forever.

"Come on Ember?-" He approached her slowly, hoping to not frighten her. "What happened?" he asked. He still sounded kind but also a bit more forceful this time. If he wanted to help her he needed to know what had happened.

Ember didn't answer and just sobbed while she didn't seem to notice him anymore.

Spyro now approached her so close that his muzzle was only a few centimetres away from hers.

Still she didn't move nor talk. She only kept crying but she had already tackled him twice so Spyro did not let his guard down.

Somehow feeling like it he tenderly nuzzled her in the hope to comfort her enough that she would talk.

Ember's nose felt very soft and her tears had made it wet. Spyro could feel just how much she had cried.

Ember didn't rub back but didn't push him away either. She did seem to get a little bit more relaxed now however.

Spyro actually thought the nuzzling felt quite nice. But he could also very well feel her sadness and he still had no idea what she was sad about.

Suddenly Ember threw her head over his shoulder and now cried out loudly.

Spyro was very surprised by this move at first but this time he didn't push her away.

Instead he tenderly rubbed her back with his paw and just let her cry.

"Why?" Ember screamed while Spyro continued to rub her back gently. Pity coming up in him more and more.

"How could you do it?"

"How?"

Ember kept screaming and crying while Spyro kept her close and rubbed her back a bit more now.

Suddenly Spyro retreated his head and moved away a bit from Ember.

Ember just continued to sob and cry. She didn't move away as well nor did she try to keep hold of him. She was completely powerless.

"What happened Ember?" He said trying to sound stern.

Trying to force the answer out of her was possibly one of the most difficult things Spyro had ever done in his entire life.

He really hurt him to do that to the crying Ember but he needed to know what was wrong with her if he was going to help her.

However a few sobs from Ember indicated that she wasn't ready yet.

She didn't even open her eyes and tears slowly escaped through the narrow slit between her closed eye-lids.

Spyro didn't know what he should do or what to say. He just wanted to help her.

Feeling a bit guilty that he had forced her away like that he now pulled Ember closer to himself again.

Ember took the invitation and kept crying and screaming again. Like she didn't even care that he had pushed her away.

"Why?"

"How could you?"

"How?"

The words kept repeating themselves over and over again. Ember kept screamed and sobbed over Spyro's shoulder while he rubbed her back tenderly with his paw.

Spyro just so desperately wanted to know what could possibly have happened to her. He so desperately wanted to help her but as long as he didn't know what it was there was nothing he could do but let her cry.

He just felt so completely useless, if he only knew.

Spyro listened carefully as Ember's words clearly said it was something awful what happened to her. He was listening for anything that might give him an indication of what could possibly have happened.

Then suddenly, Ember said something that caught his attention.

"How could you do it?... Mom!" She shouted.

"Mom?" That one word suddenly made everything clear for him.

"Did your mother hurt you?" He asked her, this time keeping her crying over his shoulder.

"Yes" he heard Ember sob.

"Her mother hurt her!" the thought came down as a bombshell to Spyro and a certain anger started rising in him.

However he quickly forced that thought out of his head as Ember needed him now.

"Don't worry Ember" Spyro said as Ember was still crying over his shoulder.

Suddenly she delicately turned around and opened her eyes to look at him.

Spyro didn't know what to say but just smiled warmly at her sobbing face.

He slightly retreated his head and nuzzled her again while continuing to rub her back with his wing.

"Don't worry Ember" he said tenderly.

"I'll protect you and I won't ever leave you" he assured her softly.

Ember didn't reply. She just stared at him, her large blue eyes filled with tears that rolled down her cheeks.

She opened her mouth but closed it again as if she didn't have the strength to speak.

She just threw her head down over his shoulder again and cried silently.

Spyro felt so much pity for her.

What could her mother possibly have done to make the always strong Ember so broken?

"Ember, please tell me" Spyro tried it again to find out what had happened now Ember had cried out some more.

However it was as fruitless as the other tries so he just let Ember cry even more.

He decided now to just let Ember cry out and hope that at one point or another she would tell him what her mother had done to make her like this.

Suddenly the door opened and Spyro was forced to look away from Ember.

"Sorry Spyro but I can't find Georga" Cynder said as she walked in.

"What? Is this?" Cynder exclaimed by seeing Spyro hugging Ember and Ember crying silently over his shoulder.

Ember looked up with her teary eyes but then buried her head back down into Spyro again.

"Cynder, go tell her mom that she is sleeping over tonight" Spyro ordered next, his voice not very kind.

"What? B-but can't she better go to her mother?" Cynder asked surprised.

Spyro's lips curled up, revealing his fangs "I don't want her to be near that dragon!" he snapped fiercely.

Cynder was very surprised by how fierce Spyro was all of a sudden but, still confused she just did as he said.

She left again and Spyro got back to comforting the crying Ember.

* * *

Cynder in the meantime was now heading out over the city again.

Ember's position with Spyro had shocked her at first but after she thought about it for a while, it fitted perfectly in the situation and she quickly forgot about it.

Spyro was just trying to console Ember so that was the reason he was holding her like that.

However there was one thing that she didn't understand.

"Why was Spyro so fierce all of a sudden?" Cynder thought as she was flying over the city.

"I just suggested that it could be better for Ember to be with her family but I guess he didn't agree"

"But, just what could have happened to make Ember like this?" Cynder thought as she now touched down on the street and walked towards the house of Ember.

"Could it be?" a very shocking possibility now entered her thoughts.

"No, this is a mother I'm talking about here. There is no way that a mother would take revenge on her own child" That Wilmfe could do anything to truly harm Ember was something that Cynder could never believe. She was Ember's mother, she never would do something like that.

"Ember beat her fair and squire so it must be something else." Cynder thought as she now knocked on the door of the house.

After some time the door opened and a dragoness that Cynder recognised as Wilmfe appeared.

Wilmfe was looking very fierce down and Cynder gulped from it.

"Oh, it's you again!" She snapped fiercely as soon as she spotted Cynder.

"Um, yes." Cynder took a step back.

The fierce feral look in Wilmfe's bright red eyes made Cynder's blood run cold and she could feel her body starting to tremble.

"Well we wondered…" Cynder stammered very intimidated by the look of Wilmfe glaring down at her.

"What?" Wilmfe said fiercely what caused Cynder to duck in.

Cynder started to make scared squeaking sounds now as Wilmfe clearly struck fear in her heart.

However Cynder gathered up all her warrior courage to suppress it and toughen up.

"If Ember could sleep over tonight." she just managed to finish.

"Fine!" Wilmfe slammed the door shut in her face, leaving Cynder perplexed on the streets.

* * *

Taking over five minutes to recover Cynder started to fly back again to the citadel.

"Wow, that mother of Ember sure is scary." Cynder had fought against towering hero orks, monstrous trolls, that humongous earth golem and even against the dark master himself, but that dragoness seemed scarier than all those enemies combined.

That look she had in her eyes.

Cynder shivered just by thinking about it.

Suddenly she remembered what she was thinking about before she knocked on the door.

"Maybe her mother did cause it." Cynder found the thought almost unbelievable but the sight of that dragoness seemed to actually make it possible.

"A mother can do something like this?" Cynder found the thought-

Well she just couldn't believe it.

"No, Ember is just acting like a weenie" Cynder thought in a try to answer the sensitive question. However, inside she knew very well that this wasn't true.

Ember was no weenie, she was a very tough dragoness, possibly even tougher than Cynder was herself so whatever happened to her must have been heavy, brutal and devastating.

In that mindset she flew back to the citadel while the thought that her mother might have been the one that had hurt her kept circulating in her head.

It seemed real yet it was unbelievable. But then again… Ember's mother also was unbelievable. Not even Malefor came close to being that scary.

* * *

Back in the citadel Spyro had laid Ember down on the bed he shared with Cynder and had laid himself down next to her.

He had made himself a promise that he wouldn't leave her side until she stopped crying.

Ember had been crying for hours now and it didn't seem like she was going to stop anytime soon so Spyro was still with her.

He tenderly had his wing draped over her while Ember just sobbed silently.

Suddenly the door creaked what caused Spyro to lift his head up to see who it was.

He spotted Cynder enter the room while carrying a large bag on her back held down by her wings.

"What's that?" Spyro asked.

"Dinner" Cynder answered "I just guessed that I would rather bring it than take Ember downstairs." she said.

"Thanks Cynder." Spyro said as he looked back to Ember.

She had her eyes closed it looked like she was asleep.

Spyro slightly shook her body to wake her up.

Ember didn't yawn or stretch out but just opened her eyes and looked around a bit confused like she was trying to figure out where she was.

"Ember, dinner" Spyro said carefully.

Ember now smelled the food and slowly got up from the bed.

Seeing that Ember wasn't going to say anything Cynder just lowered the bag down and opened it.

In the bag Cynder had brought two small boars and a large number of taviboah.

She gave Sparx one of the taviboah, Spyro and herself the two boars and the remaining taviboah's to Ember.

She had given Ember fruit because she thought it would be more easy for her to chew.

As soon as Ember spotted the food that Cynder put in front of her she dove on the it like she hadn't eaten in days.

Voraciously she gorged them all inside and didn't chew at all.

She chocked on one but forced it out of her trachea with a gagging sound and continued on.

"Wow, slow down there Ember." Cynder said surprised, waving her paw.

However Ember had already eaten all 12 of the fruits in less than a minute. She weakly slouched back to the bed of Spyro and Cynder where she collapsed and started to sob again.

The scene pained Cynder a lot as she really felt for her.

She moved her head closer to Spyro now.

"What has happened to her?" She whispered softly so that Ember wouldn't hear it.

"Something with her mother." Spyro answered sadly as he looked back towards the wreck of Ember.

That it was her mother was more a confirmation than a revelation to Cynder.

She had partially been expecting it.

She now looked again to the pink dragoness who lay sobbingly on the bed.

"What could Wilmfe possibly have done to her?" Cynder tried to visualize it but nothing she could come up with did suffice.

Ember had been so playful just yesterday with that climbing rope and that hanging upside down.

Ember back then still seemed so full of joy and energy. Cynder also knew that Ember could be mature and assertive as when she set up the act to help Georga. She could also be very powerful and strong in the battle arena.

Ember seemed so strong and happy. To see her broken like this-

Cynder looked at Spyro and his eyes told her he was thinking the same thing right now.

The two finished their meal but neither really enjoyed it.

* * *

"Cynder, why don't you go and get the mattress?" Spyro suggested sternly.

"Can't you do it yourself?" Cynder said in thought as Spyro constantly sent her for errands but she just did what she was ordered and walked out of the room.

She had picked the mattress a few times before so she knew where to look.

She opened the closet and laid the mattress on her back.

It was heavy but Cynder was strong enough to carry it if she put it the right way.

Dragging most of it along the floor she carried it back to the room where she laid it down on the floor.

When she turned she was shocked to see that Spyro had joined the crying Ember on their bed.

"Um, Spyro" Cynder stammered in disbelief.

"You'll sleep there for tonight." Spyro said like an order.

He didn't even turn to look at her and now shove even closer to Ember.

"Spyro" She almost couldn't believe Spyro just forced her off like that and was together with Ember.

Trying to forget about it Cynder just laid down on her mattress and tried to get some sleep.

She shivered a little from the cold and curled up to get herself a bit more warmth.

Having to do that really made her feel the absence of Spyro's usual warm and soft body.

It was the first time since their victory over Malefor that she had to sleep without Spyro by her side and she didn't like it all.

She looked towards them again and she could see that Ember was still sobbing a little.

Although it stung on her, somewhere inside she could understand it.

Spyro just didn't want to leave Ember and that meant she couldn't sleep with him tonight. But it still felt nasty that Spyro now slept with Ember on their bed instead of her.

Cynder looked more to Ember now that lay comfortably next to Spyro's warm body.

Cynder now almost felt a certain anger come up. That place next to Spyro was hers. Spyro was her mate so she should sleep with him, not Ember.

However Cynder sighed to force that emotion out and turned around now. She slept with her back towards Spyro as to not do something that she would regret by the sight of her mate laying on their bed with another female.

"Tough love, eh Blacky" Sparx grinned.

Cynder gave Sparx a hard swat with her tail but he dodged it.

"Easy does it there" He said.

Cynder blew a small typhoon his way and Sparx only recovered just in time not to smack against the ceiling.

He didn't say something as Cynder looked very aggressively and floated to his bed.

Cynder didn't bother with him and closed her eyes, sleep following quickly afterwards.

* * *

Despite what it looked like, while Cynder and Spyro were asleep Ember was still awake.

The pain on her tailbase was there but it was nothing compared to what she felt on her cloaca.

Spyro had asked her numerous times what had happened but she just couldn't bare to repeat it.

However while she tackled him twice and used him as her crying doll for hours he never left her side or got mad. He even let her sleep with him during the night.

The pain was still there but she didn't feel the fear anymore that she felt earlier.

Being with him she once again felt that warm and assured feeling that she hadn't had since Ignitus last visited her.

Ignitus had been there for her but it seemed like he wasn't the only one.

Spyro would also help her, support her.

While the pain was sharp in both her mind and her body Ember somehow could find the peace she needed to dose off.

"Spyro" she muttered. Cynder was so lucky to have him with her. He was such a wonderful friend.

Cynder really had a great mate in him.

She fell slowly asleep. She couldn't stop crying but through her cries she managed to smile to Spyro as he would protect her.

He would protect her from her mother, her pain and her fear. He was such a wonderful dragon.

_I really had to think well about the sexsual things I used here. I really wanted something horrible to happen. Ember possibly the toughest character I have in my entire story so to break someone like her you need something pretty horrible. It's about how sadistic I can be if you will._

_I know that this is a kind of sensative thing so I hoped I put enough respect into it to get the message across of how horrible it truly is._

_From here the second part of my story will start. Now many more pieces are moving so my story will accelarate further. chapter 29 will not come for a long time because it still needs major work. With my life as it is it could take months for all I know. Also the coming chapter are more difficult still and in a way that I can't really describe. It will be very difficult for me._


	29. healing pain

_I know it's taken like forever but here is at long last chapter 29._  
_My writing is still very far off however and it is only thanks to my betareader that I managed to finally squeze it out. Adulthood continous to ravage my enthusiasm and to keep my writing spirit up now feels almost impossible. My mind has decided for me that dragons like this belogn to my childhood and that it is over now. It feels like almost an impossible thing to defeat._

_But on to the story: Ember is pretty shaken up by the spanking but Spyro supports her. However Cynder doesn't like it. Trouble may be ahead for them._  
_Also, Ember might now finally be at the point where she will learn that new power so is searching for so long._

**The Legend of Spyro**

**Legend of the black dragon**

**Chapter 29 healing pain**

"Hey, mind if I join?"

"Oh, um, well we weren't-"

"Weren't what?"

"Well we can't play with you anymore"

"What?! What for?"

"Well, that dragoness said it to us"

"Grrrr, her again!"

"I'm going to call mom!"

* * *

Cynder slowly opened her eyes as woke up from her voice dream.

"Hmmm, now what could that have been about?" She whispered to herself. "It had some similarities between that one a week back but I can't be sure"

"I'm sure it was the hatchling again this time around, but just why does that voice sound so familiar to me?" Cynder thought, still a bit frustrated that she just didn't know what they meant.

It all just sounded so familiar, yet she just couldn't think up where she heard that voice.

"Just what is this all about?" Cynder never could get the stuff fixed out so she decided just to forget about it.

Now she let out a deep sigh as she could clearly feel the absence of the warm purple body that was normally right next to her.

She now looked towards Spyro who lay about a metre away from her together with Ember.

Ember had come yesterday crying uncontrollably and to comfort her Spyro let the distressed dragoness sleep with him this night so Cynder was laying on a mattress that was usually used when they had someone sleeping over.

Cynder just felt that this was not how it was supposed to be.

Despite the fact that Ember had slept over before, Cynder couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. It just did not seem right that Ember would go to sleep besides Spyro

While she looked at Spyro and Ember laying still asleep together she couldn't help but feel a certain envy towards Ember.

She was just sleeping so peacefully with Spyro.

She breathed deep and slowly while Spyro did the same. There was death silence in the room so Cynder could feel and hear Spyro breath. Even from this far away.

Ember breathed a little bit faster than Spyro did, but they were still pretty well in sync.

"Ah, it's just for one night" she shrugged trying to dismiss the thoughts.

Also, as she remembered in what state Ember had fallen asleep last night she didn't blame Spyro for wanting to comfort her.

Spyro was always very kind. He never hesitated for a second and always helped those he felt needed him.

He always put everyone else first and him second. He always helped others and was also not afraid to make sacrifices; this was just simply his nature.

That was the Spyro she loved and also how she wanted him to be. Thinking about it in this way she could smile at the sight that she saw although she would still like it better if she was there instead of Ember.

She now got up and stretched herself out.

The mattress wasn't nearly as comfortable as the bed and soft body of Spyro so she was feeling a bit stiff.

Feeling awake now, she decided to get out and do another morning stroll like she did often when Spyro was still asleep.

She silently snuck around the room and opened the half closed window a bit more so that she could fit through, careful not to make too much noise.

She looked to Spyro laying with Ember one last time before jumping out of the window.

When she was outside she spun around, spread her wings and shot upwards.

"I just wonder what has happened to Ember yesterday" Cynder wondered as she casually flew around the city, only flapping her wings occasionally to stay aloft.

"According to Spyro; her mother had done it to her, but how can that be?" To Cynder; who envied everyone with parents, that Ember's mother could have done something so awful to her own daughter was unthinkable.

She could still easily recall the memory of Ember arriving yesterday evening.

"I never thought Ember even could behave that way" Cynder thought. "Whatever that Wilmfe has done to her, it must have been absolutatly horrible" Although it was something that was hard for Cynder to believe she felt like she had no choice but to believe it.

The reason for her mother hurting her was obvious. It was the defeat that Ember handed her in the tournament when they faced each other.

Still something inside her resisted the thought that a parent could really do something like that.

"However, with a mother like Wilmfe-" Cynder was pretty scared by Ember's mother. She didn't look all that strong but something about her just made her so frightening.

Cynder shivered at the memory of looking into her eyes.

Those eyes, she had never seen anything like it. They were almost if not even more scarier than Malefor's

Cynder continued to fly around the city thinking about Ember and her mother.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ember was waking up in their room.

She slowly opened her eyes as she was woken up now by the burning pain on her rear.

The spanking of yesterday was just so awful. The feeling was something she just couldn't go through again.

Never again, just never.

"Mom, why, how could you do that?" she whispered to herself as tears once again started forming in her large blue eyes.

For Ember it was even harder to accept that her own mother could hurt her so much.

She could also think about the obvious reason for the brutal spanking.

However for her it was even harder to accept that her mother could hurt her so much.

She spankings she had suffered in the past were nothing compared to that. It almost seemed like a dream now as she was very dazed; however the burning pain on her rear was very real.

She got up from the bed and only now did she realise that this wasn't her room at all.

Then, a groan next to her almost caused her to jump up.

She quickly spun her head around and spotted the purple form of Spyro sleeping next to her.

"Oh Sp-!" Ember swallowed the sentence as she didn't want to wake him up.

Then suddenly it dawned on her what had happened.

How Spyro had taken her in when she collided with him as she ran away from her house, how he brought her with him to the citadel and how she had been crying for who knows how long over his shoulder while he was caressing her.

Ember knew it happened, but it seemed almost like a dream. She was so emotional and so dazed at that moment that her brain hadn't taken in the situation all that clearly.

What she had recorded clearly, however, was that Spyro never left her side since she ran into him.

She had just kept crying and he had been patient with her, no matter how long it lasted.

Although she was friends with Spyro she only knew him for about a two weeks or so. He had only played with her once and they didn't know each other that well at all.

However, despite all that, Spyro still seemed to care for her.

Ember now also remembered that Spyro had forced his best friend off the bed just so that she could sleep with him.

He was such a kind dragon.

Ember had been a fan of Spyro ever since she had first heard his name but even she was surprised at his kindness.

Ember smiled again, and as if by magic, she could feel the burning pain dissipate somewhat. It was like the purple dragon had a special power that could make it just disappear.

She had only just stood up but now she settled back down again as the presence of Spyro just made her pain vanish.

It felt like the closer she was to him the less it hurt.

She crawled closer and closer to him and the pain became less and less.

She actually felt it was wrong to get this close to him but the pain was just so much and she just so desperately wanted it to go away. She just couldn't resist it, the closer she got to him the less it became.

Almost a bit against her will she got closer and closer.

* * *

While Ember was battling the pain by getting closer to Spyro Cynder flew through the aerial entrance and gently landed in the room.

She shook her body and was now feeling fresh and awake. She had sorted out the worries in her head during her stroll.

She didn't find any answers but managed to gain some peace of mind during the walk.

She now turned her eye to Spyro to see if he was finally awake. However the first sight of him shattered her good mood instantly.

He was still asleep and by the looks of it Ember too.

However what shocked her was the position they were sleeping in.

Spyro was laying on his side with his wings prompted outwards and he looked innocent.

Ember didn't look so innocent however.

She was laying with her head towards Spyro. She had her head underneath his chin and her body very close.

Although Cynder couldn't see it, it was clear that they were even touching each other at multiple points.

Her body tensed as she struggled to not run in there and pull them apart.

"Uh, ahem!" She coughed using more than enough volume to wake them both up.

And it indeed woke both Spyro and Ember, and they shot up almost in unison and looked at her.

Cynder had an annoyed look in her eyes and it was directed to both of them.

Almost as if they were only now aware of it did Spyro and Ember look at each other and how close they were.

They shot away from each other like same polar magnets and slammed into the opposite walls of the room.

"What is happening here?!" the voice of Sparx sounded as he was woken up by all the rumble in the room.

"Yeah, what's happening here?" Cynder asked to both Spyro and Ember.

"Well I, um..." Ember stammered as she cringed in.

Now that Spyro was no longer with her the comfort he had provided also disappeared. She could once again clearly feel the pain of her burning rear.

"What were you doing?!" Cynder asked with more fire this time.

The look frightened Ember as her mind was still pretty shaken up by the spanking so she didn't reply and just retreaded into a corner.

"Well...! Say something!" Cynder now almost hissed to her.

Cynder's eyes were narrowed and she was looking down very hostile at the pink dragoness.

Ember felt like she just couldn't tell her. She couldn't even believe it herself what had happened and Cynder really frightened her.

Luckily for her, Spyro had recovered from the shock and now moved into the scene "Cynder just calm down okay" he suggested.

"And why should I?!" She snapped.

"She's just hurt and frightened" he said.

Normally Ember would have rejected such a thing but not this time around. Ember was brave enough to admit it. She looked totally pathetic and she was aware of it.

"Still that doesn't give her the right to-!" Cynder suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's all calm down here folks" Sparx now stepped in.

"Spyro is right Cynder, there is no reason for you to be so jealous at Ember" He said trying to be in charge.

However, that second part was something he shouldn't have said. It was bad for him but for the dragons it was the best.

Cynder now suddenly redirected her anger towards the insect now instead of Ember.

"I wasn't jealous!" She hissed.

"Sure, Ember didn't have anything you wanted" Sparx said sarcastic.

Cynder jumped towards him in order to catch the insulting dragonfly.

However Sparx shot upwards and dodge her strike.

Something Cynder had forgotten was that Sparx had been floating nearly at the wall. When he dodged it Cynder couldn't stop and headed for the wall.

She slammed her head hard against the wall and fell on the ground.

"Urg, man" she groaned but just as she lifted up her head something hit it hard.

The toyshelf was just above the part of the wall she had hit and the shockwave had caused one the toys to fall off.

Cynder rubbed her head with her paws as she could feel the bump on it.

She was feeling very embarrassed as she could hear everyone laugh at it.

Suddenly they heard that also Ember was giggling at her antics.

"Nice try there, Blacky" Sparx mockingly.

Cynder hissed at him but with her having a bump on her head from crashing into the wall just now that wasn't really intimating.

Somehow, the embarrassment caused Cynder's blood to cool down and she wasn't really feeling angry anymore.

At least, no more anger towards Ember

"Are you okay Cynder?" Spyro asked, however that sounded really fake as he had been laughing at her just seconds before.

"Yeah, I'm okay" Cynder said as she got up.

Suddenly she could feel something rubbing the bump on her head.

"Wow, now that's some mountain you got there" She could hear Sparx say.

Cynder just let that go.

"Two" she murmured.

Ember had come out of the corner and was looking now a lot more at peace.

The moment she shared with Spyro and the humour of Cynder's silly antic just now had really upped her mood.

* * *

Feeling that the fun about Cynder slamming into the wall was over Spyro turned back to Ember.

"So Ember..." Spyro tried to use not too heavy words in order to not break Ember again.

She was smiling now but with her crying just minutes before her upped mood was still fragile.

"Can you now finally tell us what exactly happened yesterday?" Cynder asked as she thought Spyro might not be able to do it. Although she tried to be gentle her voice did still have a sharp edge to it.

Ember looked away and her eyes now started to bear tears again. Cynder sat down on her haunches and just looked.

Spyro now took over again.

"Please Ember" he urged "We just want to know it what your mother did to you"

Spyro should have removed that last part because Ember started to sob again.

"Come on Ember, get a hold of yourself!" Cynder said a bit irritated. She clearly didn't have as much patience with Ember as Spyro had.

"What happened after you beat your mother?!" Cynder said sharply to the crying dragoness.

"She… she-she…'" Ember sobbed, unable to speak.

"What did she do, just say it already pinky!" Sparx yelled as he too was loosing his patience.

Ember looked down to the ground while her crying only intensified.

"We understand it is very painful for you Ember" Spyro stepped in and deliberately blocked the view of Cynder and Sparx.

"But we truly want to help you so would you please tell it to us what happened?" He said very soothing.

"Well, my mother really wanted to win the tournament" Ember at last started.

"She never said it to be but I knew she truly wanted the position" she said fighting her sobbing.

"So when you beat her she took revenge" Cynder said sadly. Ember was obviously having a difficult time speaking, so Cynder figured she could help make it a little bit easier for her to say it for her.

Ember didn't reply to that and looked away.

"What did she do to do to you?" Spyro asked once more.

Ember didn't reply so he slowly walked up to her and tenderly nuzzled her "Just say it, whatever it is we will understand it" he said soothing.

Cynder could feel her body tense. Spyro of course did it to calm Ember down and make her more at peace but still Cynder could feel her muscles tighten en her temper flaring up.

"She spanked me" Ember said in such a tiny hatchling voice that no one understood it.

"She did what?" Cynder asked.

"She spanked me!" Ember yelled all of a sudden.

"Spanked you?" Cynder and Spyro were very surprised at this.

"But was it really that bad?" Cynder said. A spanking of course wasn't pleasant but Ember didn't seem like the type to be broken so easily.

"Cynder!" Spyro said punitive with a disapproving glare.

Cynder bit her lip. She couldn't believe that she had just said that she doubted it's severity. She didn't know any details so for her to make a judgement of how bad it had been was totally unfair.

"It wasn't just another spanking!" Ember said through her tears.

"'Another spanking' What did she mean by that?" Cynder thought.

"Ember, what do you mean?" Spyro asked again as it seemed he didn't understand either.

Ember just sobbed and didn't want to say it.

"Please Ember, you're almost there" he said urged trying to be as gentle as he could.

Ember still didn't want to say it but she decided that, although embarrassing it may be showing them was still more easy than rewinding the event.

She turned around and showed her tailbase to them.

The bright red colour was still very visible and know that they knew why it was Spyro and Cynder were very shocked by it.

However that was nothing compared to what they were about to see.

Shading a tear Ember showed them the true reason for her pain.

She lifted up her tail and in fact presented her cloaca to them.

Spyro diverted his gaze right away, embarrassed, but Cynder stared, mortified.

A second later she also looked away but it was not from the sight of Ember's sex organ.

The entrance and the entire area around it was severly bruised and beaten. It was also very red just like the tailbase and littered with scratches made by the hard scales of her mother. It was obviously clear that it had been spanked hard and Cynder as she was a fertile female herself Cynder knew perfectly well how sensitive it was.

* * *

Seeing that they had got the point, Ember lowered her tail again and turned back to them.

Almost instantly her crying returned in earnest.

"Did she hit you on your-your-" Cynder couldn't get the word out of her mouth.

"Yes, she did" Ember nodded as the tears in her eyes never stopped.

"What did she do?" Spyro asked, he had turned away so quickly that he hadn't spotted it.

"Her mother spanked her on the area below her tail" Cynder still didn't want to say the word so that would have to suffice.

Taking a few seconds to recover and to take it in Spyro looked shocked when he had put it together.

"Now I understand it Ember" he said soothing.

"Thank you Spyro" Ember hugged him again with her wings as she still was crying.

This time Cynder allowed it but she still didn't like it.

"Enough with the thank you's" She said agitated after only two seconds.

Ember released Spyro shortly and wiped her tears off.

"How could she do something like that to you?" Spyro asked horrified "I can't believe it."

"But now what are you going to do?" Cynder asked. The prospect of Ember permanently moving in. Well she didn't know, Ember was really nice but it still was something she didn't want.

"Just going home as usual" Ember said a bit sad, dropping her head towards the ground.

"Did she also knock the brains out of you?" Sparx asked.

"Where else do I have to go?" Ember said as she forced herself to smile.

"Well, maybe you could-" Spyro started.

"No, it's okay Spyro" Ember knew what he was going to say.

"Don't you think your mom is still mad at you?" Cynder asked her.

Ember let out a very deep sigh before answering that question. She didn't want to cry anymore and she forced herself to be strong now.

"No, she has taken her anger out now. It'll be okay" she assured them although it did not sound very convincing.

"You mean to say that she is using you as her punching doll?!" Spyro exclaimed in shock.

This caused Ember to look away and be silent for some time.

However after thinking it over she came to a conclusion.

"No, this was a one-off, it won't happen again" She said with the most confident voice she could summon.

"Are you sure?" Spyro still didn't seem certain.

"Yes" Ember said nodding and sounding confident.

"Well okay then" Spyro still sounded a bit reluctant but if she said it was fine then he wouldn't stand in her way.

With that everyone was silent.

"When is my next match?" Ember asked, her voice more a bit better than before but still weak.

"Oh, um, we haven't looked at that" Spyro was obviously very surprised by the sudden question.

Suddenly they heard a low rumbling sound in the room.

"Well let's go get some food first" Cynder suggested blushing.

Spyro laughed as they understood that the sound was from Cynder's empty stomach.

Ember also snickered a little although she made sure they didn't see it. Cynder really knew how to keep her mood up.

They now all went down towards the main area of the citadel. It was starting to get late but if they were quick they could still have breakfast before the spectators arrived.

A good thing now for them was the number of matches was decreasing quickly since now there were only 8 competitors still remaining. The first match of the day was at 10 o'clock.

* * *

As they walked into the kitchen they placed their orders at the counter.

"A good boar for me" Spyro ordered.

"One for me as well" Cynder ordered.

"A large bowl of Vilbrodo please" Ember ordered.

"Vilbrodo? What's that?" Cynder asked. She had ordered all kind of things but she had never heard of that.

"Something, my mom, sometimes cooked for me" Ember said her breathing accelerating as she tried to not cry again.

The got their meal quickly as there were many cooks and they were alone now.

Spyro and Cynder took their meat and Sparx as usual his fruit.

Ember's meal was a large bowl that the moles brought to her table. The reason for that was an obvious one: it was too big and filled with liquid too heavy to be carried by a dragon like Ember.

In the bowl was a sort of light brown liquid. It had many pesos and pieces of meat floating in it and well as some spices. It was steaming and it smelled delicious.

As soon as Ember got it she started to lap up the soup.

It was warm but not hot. She really liked this and it was the meal her mother made if they had something to celebrate.

Despite that it wasn't the case right now she still felt like she deserved the feast.

It was not that Spyro, Cynder and Sparx weren't satisfied with their simpler meals but they had to admit that Ember's soup smelled and looked very good since they eyed it with appreciative looks.

Especially Spyro stood looking at Ember's bowl of steaming soup, his tongue hanging out drooling.

"Sorry Spyro, it's mine" Ember said forcing a smile from herself.

"If it was anything else I would love to share with you but I can't have your saliva in my soup" she said.

"B-B-but I didn't-" Spyro stammered his face turning red very quickly.

Ember giggled silently and Cynder openly laughed at Spyro as they returned to their food.

They all ate or drank their meal. Ember of course took longer since lapping up a meal takes more time than eating it.

While Ember was still lapping up her soup they spotted a familiar face enter the kitchen.

"Hey there Igüsa" Cynder shouted to her.

"Oh, hallo there" Igüsa replied, friendly as always.

"So how's Oxidus doing?" Cynder asked her.

"Better but still far off" Igüsa replied with a hint of sadness in her voice.

This was the usual answer as it was the usual situation. However that didn't make it any easier.

Suddenly Igüsa's sad emotion vanished as she spotted Ember sitting next to them "I see you two have had another sleep-over" She said.

"Well... well it's a bit more complicated than that" Spyro said.

"Oh, what happened then?" Igüsa asked, getting curious.

"Well how should I put this, um" Spyro was very unsure if and how to say it... Or even if he should say it to her at all.

He looked to Ember as if asking for her approval. She looked at him for a few minutes but then Ember shook her head.

Spyro understood the message and turned back to Igüsa.

"I'm sorry but it's something personal" He said to Igüsa in the hope she would understand it.

"I understand" she said at which Spyro sighed.

"By the way; Isn't Ember's match coming up soon?" She asked as she remembered that.

"Huh? What?" Ember said seemingly a bit in thought.

"Oh, shoot that's right. My match was the first one today" She exclaimed right afterwards as she wasn't yet finished with her soup.

"Don't worry it's still more than half an hour before it starts" Igüsa assured her.

Ember didn't say anything back but just got back to her soup.

Igüsa just walked to the kitchen. The young dragons just assumed she had been assigned there since she now worked here.

* * *

As if it took her forever, Ember finally was finished with it and got to her feet.

"Well you sure took you sweet time" Sparx complained.

"You can only enjoy it if you drink it slowly Sparx" she replied.

"Yeah, but you're not the only one here you know" he persisted.

"You know, complaining that it takes long when a person is finished is a waste of your energy" Ember said.

Sparx was rattling all kinds of incomprehensible words as he couldn't think of something to counter that.

"Nice move there" Cynder complimented snickering while she poked her with her wing.

"Thanks, I guess" Ember said shyly giving a small but honest smile.

With that they got up and checked out what other match-ups were. The huge cardboard indicated who was going to fight and when.

Since there were only 8 participants left they found them quickly.

Two matches were at 10 o'clock and the other two at 4 o'clock.

The crystal clock indicated that it was now 9:30.

"What do should we do?" Ember asked to them.

"Well just play and wait for your match to begin" Spyro suggested.

"Good idea" Ember said.

They started walking towards the room they had slept at but suddenly they were stopped.

"Hey, Ember!" Someone called.

Ember turned around and saw Georga standing a few metres away.

"Oh, hi, Georga" Ember replied sounding a bit uncertain.

"Mind if I join?" Georga asked and she did it with a pretty serious tone.

Ember looked at Georga, since she had noticed the tone. She looked at her for a few moments , watching if she was going to do or say anything else.

"Fine" Ember replied although it was obvious that Georga didn't come to play.

Now with Georga with them as well they got to their room.

* * *

They closed the door and settled down. No words were spoken but that Georga had come to ask about yesterday was obvious for everyone.

"So, Ember, what happened?" Georga asked the question.

She asked it as carefully as she could as she could see that Ember was still shaken up.

Having already been through the whole ordeal Ember found it more easy but still it was very visible that it hurt her.

"Well, you see Georga" Ember started nervously, her good mood already deteriorating.

"Here we go again" Sparx mumbled.

"Mom, um"

"Well, she-" Ember shot her face away. Still finding it very hard to tell.

Seeing that Ember had great difficulty saying it Georga decided to help her a bit. She had thought about it for a long time and had created a possible scenario. She knew Ember well after all.

"She gave you a really hard spanking after you defeated her in that battle right?" She suggested as it was the most likely thing.

It took some time before Ember replied

"That's right" She nodded. Her eyes were very wet but she managed to not let any tears escape her eyes.

She sniffed and rubbed her eyes before talking again.

"She-she spanked me on my-" Ember didn't continuo.

"Your what?" Georga persisted, wanting to know what had happened to her friend.

"Her private parts" Cynder stepped in to help her.

"You mean that she hit you on your cloaca?!" Georga exclaimed in shock, seemingly having no problem saying it.

"Uh, huh" Ember nodded after a while.

She now really felt miserable as she had to tell it twice in just an hour.

Luckily for her once again Spyro stepped in to save her.

"She has already told us the story Georga" he said his voice strong and also having a punitive tone to it.

"But Georga" Cynder now involved herself as well "Where were you yesterday, I searched for you but I couldn't find you anywhere" Cynder's tone had a sharp edge. It didn't sound like an accusation yet but it most certainly wasn't very positive.

"I also wanted to come visit Ember" Georga said defending as the sharp tone of Cynder made her panic a bit.

"So why didn't you?!" Spyro asked and this time it did sound like an accusation.

He looked at Georga with punitive eyes.

"Well I wanted to follow Ember but then Volt had some chores for me and I failed to convince him" Georga started a little bit scared by Spyro. "When I was finished I got back to her house but she wasn't there. Her mother said that Spyro had taken her away. Then I got to the citadel but Terrador stopped me"

"Terrador stopped you?" everyone asked at the same time, puzzled at this.

"Yes, He said that you already were taking care of Ember and that I would just have to wait"

"Why would Terrador stop you?" Ember asked surprised, having recovered again.

"I don't know" Georga said still looking a bit nervous at Spyro who still had a sharp look in his eyes "He said that I couldn't be of use"

"Well what's done is done" Cynder said to end the subject. She didn't want to talk about it as it wouldn't get anybody anywhere.

Spyro didn't say something but nodded.

"That's right Cynder" Georga agreed smiling at Spyro.

Spyro's face however didn't move.

"Hey, maybe we could try this" Everyone looked as Ember picked up something from the floor.

Ember switched moods again and could recover very fast.

When she turned they all saw it was the toy that Cynder had knocked off the box. The blue spinner.

"Okay. Fine with me" Everyone agreed.

Spyro now also smiled again.

"Yeah let's see who can give Cynder her second bump" Sparx said.

Cynder didn't reply. However she noted it in her mental notebook.

"Three" she murmured.

The dragons got into a squire formation and spun the spinner between them to lift up the serious mood. It was mostly fun and play but Georga was also feeling a bit guilty that she had forced Ember to tell about her horrible ordeal again.

* * *

"I think your match is about to begin Ember" Georga said.

"Oh, it's that late" Ember said.

They put the toy back on the shelf and walked down again.

When they were near the participants entrance they stopped.

"Good luck Ember" Spyro said smiling at her warmly.

"Thanks" Ember nodded, smiling as well.

She then turned around and walked through the entrance to begin her match.

As usual she had to wait some time before the match started. However unlike the previous times there was no other match going at this moment.

The pain of her spanking was still there and now that she was alone Ember could feel herself starting to grow scared.

However she used the mental skills she had learned to filter that out.

She had always thought that the meditation skills that he kept insisting on were a waste of time but she was now glad he was so stubborn.

With them she could battle. No matter who it was or how she was feeling. It made her specialty possible as well.

As she was thinking that she heard the grinding of the gate as it opened.

She walked into the sunlight and was ready for battle.

"And now Queen of Burns Ember will face Pyro expert Tastonias

This was one of the quarter finals so with an opponent that had made it through all those rounds, anything was possible.

At first sight he didn't look that impressive. It was a male fire dragon. He was of a large build and looked tough. However Ember had defeated dragons that were way more impressively build as him so that meant that there was more about him than met the eye.

She walked to the middle of the ring and smashed tails again just like she had done so many times before.

Ember activated her thermal coat as the match was about to get underway.

She had no problems with it and she could feel her mind drift away and her powers take over.

"Ready, get set, Fight!" Cyril declared.

* * *

The dragon was very fast and fired a fireball towards Ember.

Fireballs never worked on her so Ember just smirked as she waited for the incoming attack.

However against what she thought the power of the attack was great and she could feel the heat of the fire burning her.

She was thrown off her feet but flipped over and recovered.

It was a good luck that she did because that way she could spot the second fireball already coming towards her.

She moved out of the way but the moves were slow and sluggish.

Seeing that it was useless Ember lowered the intensity of her coat just like she had done yesterday.

With her heat now lowered down Ember was fast enough to dodge the fireballs but she needed to do something good or otherwise she would lose.

As Ember had expected was this dragon stronger than he appeared. His fireball attacks were intense. The heat of the fire was enough to damage even her and he seemed to fire them effortlessly.

She ran towards him but now that she was closer she didn't have enough time to see another fireball coming and was blasted away.

Ember flapped her wings but it was too late and she was hit by another fireball and crashed into the wall of the arena.

Ember could feel her body getting hit hard as it indeed was a very hard impact.

She didn't move and fell down on the floor.

Feeling a win the dragon rushed towards her and grabbed her in her paw.

He lifted her to his head to put his jaws around her.

All of a sudden the pink dragoness shot a fireball and she fired it at his throat

The ball exploded and caught by surprise the fire dragon staggered backwards and dropped her on the floor.

She had been playing death in order to get close. After all in order to win you need to get close.

Ember shot a fire stream towards him and it hit him in the shoulder.

However it didn't leave a single scratch and Tastonias backed away to put more distance and once again bombard her.

Ember needed something fast.

She deactivated her thermal coat now altogether and at the same time fired her most powerful fire stream.

Then she suddenly could feel a very strange sensation.

The energy that was normally in her thermal coat she could feel rushing to her throat.

The fire she summoned didn't just came out of her chest but it seemed from everywhere in her body.

She opened her mouth what came out of it was a small fire stream but it felt so intense. It was something Ember had never felt before.

The dragon got hit and he screamed out with all his might.

The fire stream had hit him around the same spot as Ember's previous attack but unlike last time it was seriously burned.

Not wasting a second Ember used a comet dash to ram him.

He was in too much pain to pay attention and Ember knocked the air out of him.

With him dazed like that it was no challenge at all to get to his neck and make a win.

* * *

"The winner is Queen of Burns Ember!" Cyril declared.

"What was that?!" Ember thought as she got off her defeated opponent.

"Good job there" Ember turned to see the fire dragon get up.

"I have to admit I never saw that coming"

"Neither did I" Ember murmured.

She walked out of the arena still with the mystery of the mysterious attack in her mind. The attack almost seemed like her specialty but with range. What was it?

As she walked out she was greeted by her friends.

"Ember, how did you do that?" They all asked her the question she couldn't answer.

"I have no idea" Ember shook her head "What did it look like?"

"Well it looked like white fire" Georga said although she knew it sounded stupid.

"White fire?" Ember was very intrigued.

Somehow she had summoned it by deactivating her specialty and launching fire stream at the same time.

It clearly had an overwhelming effect on her opponent and she didn't even need to get close.

"Could this be the alternative strategy I've been looking for?" Ember hoped.

"When is the match of Flame?" Ember asked.

"Well it is about to begin" Georga answered a bit encouraging.

"Well then what are we standing around here for" Ember already started running towards the honour box.

"Hey wait up Ember!" They shouted as they all ran to catch up.

* * *

Ember stormed into the honour box. She was panting both from running and from her battle but her energy levels were high.

Also her friends were panting but they seemed a bit annoyed.

"Why the urge?" Ember suddenly spotted that Nina and Flash had rejoined Spyro.

"I don't want to miss the fight of Flame" Ember said as she turned her eyes to the match.

It took a couple of minutes but Ember didn't mind.

"Oh hi there Ember how did-, Au!" Frost started but suddenly he yelped.

Ember looked at him and saw that Spyro had just stabbed in, in his back. He whispered something to him but Ember didn't really pay it much attention as she now heard the words she longed for.

"And now the Inferno King Flame will face Power Vulcan Heaïas!" Cyril declared next.

Ember looked and spotted her friend Flame appearing.

He was looking full of confidence and a dangerous dragon for sure.

Ember just loved it to see him like this although she most certainly didn't mind his shy side.

Having seen Flame many times already she turned her attention to his opponent.

It was a male fire dragon but unlike her opponent this one was colossal in size. He was even taller than Volt and Ember guessed his weight almost twice as much.

Ember couldn't remember to have ever seen this dragon before but with a city like Warfang it was possible he just lived somewhere else.

The two dragons clashed tails however Flame seemed so tiny it looked very pathetic.

"Ready, get set, Fight" Cyril declared.

* * *

Flame was the first to move and fired a fire stream towards his opponent.

The fire stream was full on in the first attack and Ember saw that Flame wasn't going to pull any punches in this battle.

The fire dragon roared as he duck his claws into the ground.

He didn't show any signs of defending and the fire attack enveloped him in moments.

To everyone's awe he stood his ground in the raging fire stream and even moved against it towards Flame.

Flame increased the power of his attack but that seemed to have no effect at all.

Ember couldn't believe it.

This dragon wasn't as tough as he looked. He was even tougher.

Flame kept increasing the power and the dragon kept closing in.

Ember knew that this was going to be a short battle.

The dragon kept walking against the fire and Flame kept forcing more power.

The dragon now was within just a metre of Flame and suddenly Flame's fire stream almost doubled in strength.

Ember knew what this meant. Flame's rage was turned on and he was into his battle mode now.

The colossal fire dragon cringed in and was forced backwards.

However he was showing no hints of giving in.

He gathered his strength and once again moved against the stream although it was clear it took everything he had.

Ember could hear Flame roar through his fire stream and it suddenly doubled in size once more. Flame could also see it was now or never so he unleashed everything he had.

This was more than the dragon could ever take.

He was blasted off his feet and crashed hard into the wall.

He landed on the ground and by his breathing it was obvious he wasn't conscious.

* * *

"The opponent is unable to battle so the winner is Inferno King Flame!" Cyril declared.

You can also win a sparring match if your opponent faints or for some other reason can't fight. Heaïas was just so exhausted that he had fallen asleep.

Ember now rushed out of the honour box again to catch up with Flame.

She sprinted through the citadel and because she did she had to wait for multiple minutes before Flame finally showed up.

"Great job Flame!" She said in her excitement.

"Yeah, that guy sure was something" Flame was still into his battle mode so he was still cocky.

"Well I really ought to get going now" Flame said as he already turned away from her.

"Hey Flame!" Ember shouted before he got away.

"Yes?"

"Good luck with your next match!"

"Thanks" Flame said as he flew off.

"Because you're going to need it" Ember whispered to herself, her muzzle forming a wicked grin.

Now that she had watched the match of Flame and the next match was near the end of the afternoon she decided to go home now.

She ran back to the honour box and said goodbye to all her friends.

"I'm going home now okay" Ember said but just as she was about to walk away again Georga jumped in front of her.

"Why don't you go to the dojo instead" she suggested.

"Huh? Why?" Ember said cocking her head.

"Um, they have much better equipment there" Georga said.

The argument was a very lame one. What kind of equipment would Ember need?!

"Okay Georga, I will" Ember nudged as she ran away now.

She flew out of the citadel and headed towards the dojo.

She still was feeling pumped as she wanted to learn this new power. The semi final round was going to be the most difficult one she had ever fought and even if she won she had to face an even stronger opponent.

If she wanted to have any chance at beating them she needed to master this new power.

As she flew there as fast as she could she also thought about how she was going to master this ability in just one day.

"It is in these times that I wish he was still here" Ember really longed for her mentor but he was gone so she had to learn it herself.

With her pace she arrived at the dojo in only a few minutes and she almost ran inside.

She ran through the doors and looked around.

There were a total of 5 doors that led to training rooms.

She just picked the second one to the left at random and got inside.

The room was the same as most of the other ones.

It had white walls and a beige floor. There was a stage for the instructor.

The lessons hadn't restarted yet so the dojo was mostly empty.

"'pant' 'pant' can't you slow it down Ember?" Ember turned and was very surprised that Georga had followed her.

She was panting deeply as she was out of breath while following Ember.

"Why have you come then Georga?" She asked. Though Georga suggested she got here she never mentioned that she was coming along.

"I've got nothing better to do so I just guessed that I help you with your training" Georga said after she had regained her breath.

"Thanks Georga" Ember said.

"Sure" Georga said smiling.

* * *

"So how did you do that anyway?"

"Well it just came out when I breathed fire" Ember said as that was still a mystery to her too.

"But I think it had something to do that I deactivated that secret of mine at the exact same time" Ember said.

"Why do you say that?" Georga asked.

"Well, how can I put this-" Ember said "I could feel the energy flow in my body. The fire didn't just come out of my core but out of every part of my body"

"I think I get it" Georga said.

"Well try it again"

Ember calmed her mind and unleashed her inner fire.

Georga could see her starting to glow and she took a few steps back from her. She didn't know how Ember felt when it was active but with what she had seen she also didn't want to find out.

Ember opened her mouth and Georga could spot the glow disappearing.

She couldn't see it from such a distance so Georga crept a bit closer.

This didn't prove to be a very good idea as she suddenly was deafened and almost blown off her feet by a humongous explosion.

However she ground her paws down hard and cringed down so that she wasn't blown away.

She looked up again to see Ember staggering back to her feet.

"Well I thought you got over that habit" Georga said as she approached her.

She stretched out her paw to Ember's face.

"Well guess not" Ember said as she put her weight on Georga and lifted herself up.

"What happened?"

"Well I don't know" Ember said.

"Somehow I just couldn't control the energy"

Georga wished she knew something to assist Ember. However Ember knew way more battle moves than Georga did and she also was of a different element. There wasn't so much that Georga could say.

"Well maybe I should reduce the amount of energy stored" Ember suggested.

"Could work" Georga shrugged.

"Well, let's try it" Ember said as she readied herself for another try.

"Wait!" Georga said.

"What?"

Georga concentrated and with a high swing slammed her tail-globe into the ground.

Suddenly the earth rumbled and a small wall of earth shot out from the ground.

"What is that for?" Ember asked puzzled.

"Well I just guessed that it might help if you actually had a target" Georga said.

"Good idea" Ember agreed.

Ember focused her attention on the wall and the light of her body returned.

Georga walked back almost 20 metres from her on the other end of the room because she didn't want to be blasted again.

She couldn't see all that much but the glow of Ember grew slightly less but suddenly and she opened her mouth again.

Suddenly Ember exploded again and the wall was blasted to pieces.

Georga ran over to her to check if she was alright.

She stopped as she spotted Ember already getting to her feet.

Ember had blown herself up more times than Georga could count in learning her secret weapon so by now it didn't hurt her anymore.

"Well you destroyed your target" Georga said as the wall she had created lay in rumble.

"Yeah but not the way I wanted" Ember complained.

Georga made another target for her, Ember tried again and she exploded.

Georga made one, Ember tried and exploded, again and again and again.

* * *

They kept going this way for who knows how long. Georga was really starting to get annoyed by the lack of progress but Ember didn't seem bored or frustrated at all.

When she exploded the fiftieth time Georga decided to call it.

"Maybe we need to try something else" Georga suggested as she had the feeling going like this wasn't going to get them anywhere.

"Like what?"

"Try to breath fire without the boost" Georga suggested.

She had little training but she did have had some. When she had learned the earth ripple Terrador had taught her to zero it down to the basic concept and start from that.

Ember didn't ask for explanations and breathed a stream of fire.

"Now try adding a little bit of your 'secret' into it" Georga still put an annoyed tone on the word 'secret'

Ember did that and the fire stream was slightly orange.

Georga couldn't see her body light up but she just guessed she missed it.

"Try upping it further and further until you finally can fore everything into it" Georga felt a bit strange in instructing Ember while Ember was by far her superior in battle.

Ember did as Georga had just instructed and the fire was still lighter in colour.

Georga used very little energy on the walls she summoned and Ember knocked them down over and over again.

The two kept going like this for more hours.

Georga had to admit that she was very impressed by the extent of Ember's energy supply.

She had seen Ember battle before but she had no idea that Ember could have so much stamina.


End file.
